Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her. 

In today’s Gospel, we find a heartbreaking scene: a woman who has already lost her husband is now grieving the death of her only son. When Jesus sees her, he is deeply moved. The Greek word for “pity” in this passage (splagchna) literally means to feel moved in your internal organs. It’s a gut-wrenching kind of compassion. Jesus used this same word to describe the way the father of the prodigal son reacted when his boy returned (Luke 15:20). He also used it to describe the way the good Samaritan felt toward the wounded man (10:33). This is the compassion that God feels for each of us when we are grieving.

Death can pierce the heart in ways not much else can, even when we know that death is not the end. One of the chief results of Adam’s sin, death is a bitter reminder that things are not as they should be. We were never meant to be separated from one another in this way. Jesus himself wept at the loss of his friend Lazarus and grieved for his cousin, John the Baptist (John 11:35; Matthew 14:13). Even though he knew he would ultimately defeat death, the pain of loss and the effects of sin moved him to mourn.

So although, as Paul wrote, we do not grieve “like the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13), we still suffer deeply over the loss of our loved ones. Our hearts break over conversations we wish we could have had and experiences we can no longer share with them. Every fiber of our being protests that this is not the way life should be, and we grieve the way sin and death have infiltrated our world. So we cling to the hope we have in Christ’s resurrection, that death is not the final end. Yet it’s sometimes even more meaningful to remember that we are not alone in our grieving. Our Father grieves with us.

Your God is full of compassion. Just as Jesus saw the widow of Nain in her anguish, he sees you. He is not cold or distant; his heart aches with love for you. He doesn’t ask you to wipe the tears from your eyes. He is truly Emmanuel, God with us. He is with you in your joy and in your sorrow. And he is with you today.

“Thank you, Lord, that you never leave my side.”

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31
Psalm 100:1-5
Luke 7:11-17