Paradise Lost! In two words John Milton explained what’s wrong with the world. We humans spend our lives trying to fill in the void caused by the loss of what our first parents once enjoyed. As a result, there is an underlying mourning that we all feel. The pain of loss is deepened by broken marriages, shattered dreams, and watching our present age coming to an end. We have every right to feel despair were it not for God’s merciful love. He desires that we be reunited with him more than we want to. In his mercy he sent his only Son to become one of us, so that there would be a way to recover our loss. Jesus is here, not only to set us free from sin, but to reunite us to the Father.
In today’s gospel account, we read how Jesus helped a woman who had just experience the worst possible loss (Luke 7:11-17).
“Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain…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…When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’”
Jesus was moved to pity at the sight of this grieving mother. He let his journey be interrupted so he could tend to her need. He didn’t walk over to her and say “Take comfort in knowing he is in a better place.” That wouldn’t have helped, because it wouldn’t restore her son to her. Jesus was able to tell the woman not to weep because he knew what he was about to do.
“He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you arise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”
Imagine the joy that filled both the woman and her son at that moment. The “lost” son had suddenly returned home. There was only one person on earth who had the power to raise someone from the dead, and he just happened to be walking by the little village of Nain that day. The woman’s loss was turned into ecstatic joy.
Jesus doesn’t always deal with our grief by restoring the one we lost back to life. He does, however, stop in the middle of his journey and minister his love to us. He knows that his love is the answer we need, and he offers it freely. Instead of “fixing” the problem as he did with widow, he fills our emptiness with his love, and invites us into a new and deeper relationship—friendship with him. When this happens Paradise is regained, and it will not be lost again.
Just as Jesus was the only person on earth who could restore life to the dead man in the story, so he is the only person on earth who can restore life to us and relieve us from the grief we feel in our own hearts.
How do we handle our losses? Do we just “suck it up” and plow on? Do we cry on someone’s shoulders? Why not go to Jesus and ask him to help us recover from our loss? He is not indifferent to our hurts. He wants to bring new life to us as well as heal us from our deepest wounds. Will we come to him or stay stuck in our own solutions that do not work?
Our Mother of Sorrows, pray for us.
