10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: 1Kgs 17:17-24 II: Gal 1:11-19

¹¹ Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
¹² As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her.
¹³ When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, "Do not weep".
¹⁴ He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"
¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, "A great prophet has arisen in our midst," and "God has visited his people".
¹⁷ This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.

• Context: In the Ordinary Time of Cycle C, we read selections in Luke from chapter 4 on the 3rd Sunday to chapter 21 on the 33rd Sunday. The stories in most of these selections only appear in Luke. The whole Gospel focuses on the poor. In the chapter before this reading, Jesus taught, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (6:36). Here Jesus walked his talk, "moved with pity" (v. 13).
• (v. 11) "his disciples and a large crowd" The disciples stood out among the crowd.
• (v. 12) "gate of the city" Nain was about six miles south of Nazareth, sitting high and encircled by a wall.
• (v. 12) "the only son of ... a widow" Without husband or sons, this woman had no money or social standing.
• (v. 15) "gave him to his mother" The exact expression was used in 1Kings 17:23, after Elijah raised a widow.s child from death in Sarepta.
• (v. 16) "A great prophet has arisen" God has chosen a prophet, and thus his words are God's words, as the Sarepta widow exclaimed, "it is truly the word of the LORD that you speak" (1Kings 17:24).
• (v. 16) "in our midst" The prophet is for the people.
• (v. 16) "God has visited his people." This echoes the first line of the Magnificat, "...he has visited and brought redemption to his people" (1:68).
• (v. 17) "This report" "ho logos" in Greek, is a major theological theme, from creation in the Old Testament to incarnation in the New. People get to know the transcendent God through the Word. The Gospel of Luke is from "ministers of the word" handed down to us (1:2).

The Trinity gives us the compassionate Jesus as the prophet and the Word of God among us.

1. Who are the "widow without son" or the poor in my time and my town now?
2. Do I live out His teaching of compassion in my family and community?
3. How am I poor, and do I cry out to Jesus?
4. Do I spread the Word? What do I spread?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community