Homily given 10/8/2023
Our Gospel today tells of a woman crushed by sorrow. Not all that long ago, prospects seemed good. She had a good husband who apparently had a lucrative job. Some details in the Gospel tell us that she and her family were at least somewhat well to do. But, at a fairly young age her husband died and left her and their only son to fend for themselves.
Her past was full of pain, but she had her son to continue forward. He was young, but in time he would grow and be able to make a good living like his father before him. She loved him dearly. And the future looked bright, even if the past was full of pain and grief.
And then suddenly, her future disappeared as well. Her only son, her young son, died and hope was lost. Given this time period, the loss of her son also meant loss of a decent wage. Women were not permitted in the more lucrative industries.
Her past was gone, her future was gone, all she was left with in the present was to bury her dead son.
As the Bier was being carried to the gate of the city on the way to the cemetery the pall bearers and the large funeral procession come to a stop. Our Lord Jesus along with a large crowd of his disciples are coming in to the city. Death stops, life enters.
Her past in tatters, her future destroyed, the woman weeping hears the voice of her Lord, YHWH the God of Israel speaks to her, " Do not weep."
She didn't even have time for the shock of that statement to wear off before the Lord of Glory turned, touched the coffin, and tenderly spoke to her son, "young man, I say to you arise."
Her son, her future, her hope and comfort sat up and began speaking as though he had merely been asleep. Our Lord then presented Him to his mother, joy flowed from his mother's embrace, fear fell on the crowd, and Glory was given to God throughout the city and outlying country. God had visited His people.
It is always tempting to look to the past for answers, but very often looking to the past brings a sense of nostalgia, pain and depression. Like the widow in the Gospel today, our past is very often filled with pain, regret, grief, betrayal.
Our parish is a place full of memories. glorious times of our past, but also heartache, loss, frustration, and pain. Like the widow, the people and moments of our past are gone. The past has passed away.
But as we look forward we can become fearful. We can't see how it is all going to work out. Our future is just our imagination, but sometimes we are taken by pessimism, sadness, we think our future cannot hold greater grace than our past. But, we cannot run to the future, we must let go of the past. So, we can pass through the gate of the present moment and encounter the Lord.
Like the widow of Nain, we can only meet God in our present moment. As St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians, "now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
Beloved of God, God is everywhere present and filling all things in the present, we must let the past pass and entrust Him with our future, so we don’t miss our Lord's presence in the present moment.
At each moment of our lives, God is entering into the gate of our city, to give life to our future, and rewrite our past. He is present prepared to rewrite our story from one of death and suffering, into a story of life and resurrection. If only we will meet him in gate of the present moment.
So how can we do this? How can we become more present so we can be where God is? Like all things for us, it starts at the chalice. When we come forward today to receive Holy Communion, we will come face to face with the Lord of Glory, as the widow did in today's gospel. Today, taste the fruit of the tree of life. Take it in, notice the flavor, experience the sensation of that moment. Say in your heart, after receiving Holy Communion, Glory to thee O God, Glory to thee. This is the present moment of our salvation.
But then after that we will leave, we will go to coffee hour, or lunch. We are going to meet people we will see family and friends. Each face you see today, I want to ask you to say in your heart that same prayer, "Glory to thee O God Glory to thee." Because this moment too is an encounter with the Lord, because this moment too is our present moment. We can even try this throughout the week in every moment, in every encounter, as we awake and as we fall asleep, "Glory to thee O God Glory to thee!"
If we do this, if we will strive to pass through the gate of the present moment we will encounter Christ, and His grace that we receive from that encounter is capable of giving us a new future, by rewriting our story from one of sorrow, grief, and pain to one of resurrection and life eternal."Glory to thee O God, Glory to thee!"