S. FAUSTI - The pagan centurion, who believes in the efficacy of the word of the Lord even in His absence, made us seeing how the faith is for us that haven't seen the Lord, knowing that He saves us througth His word of promise. Indeed Christ saves through His Word all who receive Him. Now He shows Himself so that we can have this faith: whether because He is moved to our evil and visits us with His presence, or because He is the Lord and His word is effective, able to save us from the death. He is the mercy that meets our misery and realizes what was said by Zechariah: the tender mercy of our God, who comes to visit us from above like the rising sun, for enlighten those who stays in darkness and the shadow of death. Jesus has just proclaimed the promised Kingdom : the beatitude to the poors, hungry and weeping, and He has commanded the mercy. Now He satisfies the hunger of the poorest of all: one dead, the extremely poor, fasting of life. Now He uses grace and mercy towards the smallest of all, the very small, a dead child, the only son of a widowed mother! Jesus does first what He expressed as a requirement of the Son of God: He loves His enemies,He takes to heart the little ones, and welcomes the sinners (Luke 7). It 's a kerigmatic story , a believer's invitation to the unbeliever, in order that he participate to the praise of God in the One who, without being asked for nothing, came to conquer the death. The story is exclusive of Luke, which tells two resurrections in the Gospel (here and the daughter of Jairus 8, 40-56) and two in Acts (9, 36-42 and 20.7 to 12). There is the background of the Old Testament of the resurrection operated by Elijah (1 Kings 17.17 to 24) and by Elisha (2 Kings 4.32 to 37) .The resurrection from the dead, that for Israel is an eschatological wait ,it is completely extraneous to the pagan mentality . The desire of to win the death - constitutive of the man ! - It may never turns itself in real hope for mankind, for it is brutally broken by death. The resurrection is not deductible from any premise, impossible for any claim and human expectation: it is deductible only by the promise of God, possible only as an unexpected gift of his merciful power. More than the power of Jesus, the story highlights the mercy of the Savior, God prevents and visits without request, prayer or faith,the one who is totally lost and cannot any long claim neither to pray or to believe. Jesus is here called by Luke for the first time "the Lord". This means that this episode reveals Him fully: He is the Lord of mercy, the author of life, the conqueror of death. The widow's son is described in terms that allude to Jesus Himself dead and risen. It is the "only begotten son", "at the gate of the town” " he wakes himself" and, in His awakening , they say of "a great prophet raised up among us." This exchange of figure, this overlay, Jesus / only son dead / risen shows the mercy. It will lead Him to meet our misery, until to identify with us and to lose Himself to save us. The story wants to inspire the faith in the mercy of God for the children and for those who mourn, for every man, that is small and tearful to face of death. Small because absolutely helpless, weeping because irreparably offended. Jesus comes to give hope there where no one can have it. Because the man dies; and, when he lives, he lives in the pain of others' death and in the awaiting his own. Jesus wins the one who gives death to life, and He gives back the life to life: the mother finds again his son.
S. FAUSTI - The pagan centurion, who believes in the efficacy of the word of the Lord even in His absence, made us seeing how the faith is for us that haven't seen the Lord, knowing that He saves us througth His word of promise.
RispondiEliminaIndeed Christ saves through His Word all who receive Him. Now He shows Himself so that we can have this faith: whether because He is moved to our evil and visits us with His presence, or because He is the Lord and His word is effective, able to save us from the death.
He is the mercy that meets our misery and realizes what was said by Zechariah: the tender mercy of our God, who comes to visit us from above like the rising sun, for enlighten those who stays in darkness and the shadow of death.
Jesus has just proclaimed the promised Kingdom : the beatitude to the poors, hungry and weeping, and He has commanded the mercy. Now He satisfies the hunger of the poorest of all: one dead, the extremely poor, fasting of life. Now He uses grace and mercy towards the smallest of all, the very small, a dead child, the only son of a widowed mother!
Jesus does first what He expressed as a requirement of the Son of God: He loves His enemies,He takes to heart the little ones, and welcomes the sinners (Luke 7). It 's a kerigmatic story , a believer's invitation to the unbeliever, in order that he participate to the praise of God in the One who, without being asked for nothing, came to conquer the death. The story is exclusive of Luke, which tells two resurrections in the Gospel (here and the daughter of Jairus 8, 40-56) and two in Acts (9, 36-42 and 20.7 to 12).
There is the background of the Old Testament of the resurrection operated by Elijah (1 Kings 17.17 to 24) and by Elisha (2 Kings 4.32 to 37) .The resurrection from the dead, that for Israel is an eschatological wait ,it is completely extraneous to the pagan mentality .
The desire of to win the death - constitutive of the man ! - It may never turns itself in real hope for mankind, for it is brutally broken by death.
The resurrection is not deductible from any premise, impossible for any claim and human expectation: it is deductible only by the promise of God, possible only as an unexpected gift of his merciful power.
More than the power of Jesus, the story highlights the mercy of the Savior, God prevents and visits without request, prayer or faith,the one who is totally lost and cannot any long claim neither to pray or to believe.
Jesus is here called by Luke for the first time "the Lord". This means that this episode reveals Him fully: He is the Lord of mercy, the author of life, the conqueror of death.
The widow's son is described in terms that allude to Jesus Himself dead and risen.
It is the "only begotten son", "at the gate of the town” " he wakes himself" and, in His awakening , they say of "a great prophet raised up among us." This exchange of figure, this overlay, Jesus / only son dead / risen shows the mercy.
It will lead Him to meet our misery, until to identify with us and to lose Himself to save us.
The story wants to inspire the faith in the mercy of God for the children and for those who mourn, for every man, that is small and tearful to face of death.
Small because absolutely helpless, weeping because irreparably offended.
Jesus comes to give hope there where no one can have it.
Because the man dies; and, when he lives, he lives in the pain of others' death and in the awaiting his own.
Jesus wins the one who gives death to life, and He gives back the life to life: the mother finds again his son.
RispondiEliminaOr Lk7:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 7:11-17 ©
Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople were with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.’ And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.