Commentary on 15th Sunday after Pentecost: Lk 7: 11-16; Raising of Widow's Son of Naim

Naim is a city of Galilee, within two miles of mount Tabor, and “Our Lord was invited to the city” when this miracle occurred, so says St. Cyril.¹ St. Maximin informs us that Holy Scripture records seven resurrection miracles prior to that of our Lord’s Resurrection (three in O.T. and four in N.T.). The raising of the widow’s son was the fourth resurrection miracle to occur in Holy Scripture, the first in the New Testament. It occurs in the seventh chapter of St. Luke, and the number seven always signifies God and the sacraments. The number fifteen, as we have seen in a previous essay on St. Joseph, represents Mary and the rosary. “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak.” (v. 15, 15th Sunday after Pentecost) Our Lord was invited to the city for the funeral proceedings, but He delayed his arrival, showing up at the “gate” as the young corpse was being carried out. Christ did this to strengthen the faith of those present, for many of them were thinking to themselves, “Where is Jesus?”

The Widow

This widow shows great faith, because, if we accept the opinion of St. Maximin, this was the first resurrection miracle worked by Our Lord. The widow may have heard of some of the other miracles worked by Christ, but she had not heard of anyone “raised from the dead.” This pious woman was perhaps questioning whether Our Lord was the Messiah or not. Our Lord gave her indubitable proof. Jesus came into Naim with his disciples, and they represent the N.T. The widow and her fellow mourners, who are from the city (Jerusalem), represent the O.T. There was a mixture of Galilean Jews surrounding the widow, as the Latin has it, multa turba, “many crowds.” We may be sure that the mother had some faith, perhaps even great faith.

The Son

This “only son” represents the N.T. Church, and just as the mother (O.T) gave birth to her only son, the Jews gave birth to their only Messiah, the Son of David. This son is the link between the Old and New Testaments, just as “the dead man” was the link between Christ and the sorrowful widow. The young man raised to life was St. Maternus, the first bishop of Cologne, Germany, whose feast day is September 14th. St. Peter Canisius assures us of this fact. It is the fourteenth verse when Our Lord says to him, “Young man, I say to thee, Arise.”

There were most probably six men carrying the bier on which the seventh man, the dead son, was carried. These seven men represent the seven Sacraments, and it seems that the Church is dead, never to see new life. It appears as though the head is dead - the son. The Church is apparently headed toward the grave, but Christ meets the bier at the gate of the city, to raise up the son, to raise up the Church. St John Chrysostom says, “But life meeting death stops the bier.” Ven. Bede says, “And he is well said to be the only son of his mother, for there is one mother composed of many individuals, the Church, but every soul that remembers that it is redeemed by the death of the Lord, knows the Church to be a widow.”²

The gate of the city represents Mary, the gate of heaven; it also represents Baptism, the gate of the sacraments, janua sacramentorum. Notice that the gentiles (disciples) and the Jews (great multitude) meet each other at the gate of Naim. The gate is Jesus, and Jesus resurrects the Church at the gate, when all hope is lost. Christ raises up the Church in the eyes of both Gentiles and Jews. He does not command the carriers of the bier to halt, they stop of their own accord. The bier comes to a halt because Christ wills it. Christ performs the miracle in the face of the believing disciples, and in the presence of a few the faithless Galileans.

The Savior is about to heal the body of the son, the body of the Church; but he will heal the heart of the widow, the heart of the Jews. And Christ did not touch the son, as Scripture says, “And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And He said: Young man, I say to thee, arise.” (v. 14) The bier carriers were used to people touching the bier; they were accustomed to “keep walking” when one would touch the bier, but Christ obviously has a presence about him which is extraordinary.

Christ operates through the sacraments, and the ministers carry to us the sacraments. Christ granted life to the dead son by means of the bier. The bier itself did not give life to the son, but Christ operating through the bier; and living men were taking hold of the bier, and these men are the priests of the Church. And the priests give life to the Church, and the Church gives life to the priests, and Christ the High Priest gives life to both the priests and the Church. But these men carrying the bier, we assume, are somewhat dead in the Faith, just as the young man is dead in the body. Christ raising the boy to life must have been as much a miracle for them as it was for the young man.

“And he who was dead sat up and began to speak.” Like a pope sitting upon his throne being borne by others, the young man sits up and speaks. He rises up out of his coffin to be united to his mother. Let us pray that like the raising of the widow’s son, the Church today, which seems to be dead, will be once again resurrected.

1. Catena Aurea: A Commentary on the Four Gospels by St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Austin Press. p. 238

2. Catena Aurea: A Commentary on the Four Gospels by St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Austin Press. p. 238