In yesterday's reading from Luke the centurion approaches Jesus in great faith on behalf of a sick servant, while in today's reading it is Jesus who makes the approach and in regard to a man already dead. There is no question of faith here but only of the sympathy and love that Jesus feels for the widow's difficult situation. Sometimes we are sick in some way and turn to Jesus for healing and forgiveness, for a blessing that will help us to go on. And then there are those times that we feel dead and beyond hope in some way, dead to hope. Jesus works with us, lifts us up even though we do not see or understand it at the time. Let us place ourselves before Jesus, then, and accept his saving love even at such times and in those parts of our lives. Here is where we are called to the purest of hope, the purest trust to God's concern for us and his wisdom about the best way to solve our problems. |