Daily Reflection Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

“Do not weep.” I can only image that Jesus stunned the two crowds into silence when he said this to the widow. I know I would have been shocked. Here is this poor widow grieving not only for the loss of her only son but also knowing that she is now alone in the world. I can’t image what that must have felt like. The important phrase was the one prior to Jesus telling the widow not to weep. “When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her.” This is more like the Jesus we have come to know and love. The Jesus that always cared for the women, and children, the poor and forgotten.  

Grief can be overwhelming, and we all have or will experience it at in our lives. For this grieving mother, Jesus is in the right place at the right time. But isn’t that true of Jesus all the time. He is always right where we need him to be. Right there amid whatever life throws at us. Whether the loss of a loved one, a divorce, the loss of a job, or hearing a doctor tell us of an illness. Whatever it is that brings us sorrow also brings us an opportunity to sit with Jesus. To let him be with us in our sorrow, to be our comfort. 

Several years ago, I brought communion to a wonderful woman named Aggie. She was an older woman, a widow, and I had become close to her. Aggie was diagnosed with cancer, and eventually was put into a palliative care unit. She was dying and in so much pain, but she never complained. My visits became more frequent as she grew closer to death. I remember how joyful she was, and it amazed me. At the very end she went home to the Lord peacefully. She said Jesus was right there with her the whole time waiting to take her home. 

I was heartbroken when she passed but I learned a valuable lesson about faith and how comforting it is to know that Jesus is always in the right place at the right time for all of us if we let him. This is not to say that we will not feel pain or anger in our times of sorrow or loneliness because we will, but like Aggie, we too will be in the presence of the Lord. 

In John 14, 27 Jesus told us “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be trouble or afraid.” We can always count on our loving Jesus to be right there with us in both the good and bad times. He will be there to comfort, listen and give us strength to face whatever comes our way. He will speak to us in the silence of our hearts and hopefully we will all feel the peace that Aggie felt in being with Jesus.