Don’t underestimate anything.

The faithful’s participation in worship is not a simple and lifeless matter. Depending on how one experiences the Holy Mass, one takes strength from it for one’s life. Therefore, we realize that it is not enough to be at Mass or to pray; but we must engage in conversation with the Lord Jesus. A Mass well-lived has been a life-changing moment for many a believer, just as it was for the dead young man in the Gospel.
Are you saying that we are not dead? What about your soul?! Is there no sin in it? Perhaps you are just the mother who weeps over her son! Who can count the tears falling from a mother’s eye here in church for her son, daughter, or husband?

Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are not just addressed to the dead young man at the gate of Naim but all of us: “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (Lk 7:14). This event took place at the end of the first half of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus’s popularity increased, it was beginning to reach its peak. Meanwhile, the crowd accepted Jesus’ teachings without difficulty. The problems will come later, especially when he begins to speak about the mystery of the Eucharist.

Imagine a lively and cheerful group of disciples and friends accompanying the Lord Jesus to the small town of Naim, about ten kilometers away from Nazareth. As they enter the city, they are met by a funeral procession. A mother escorts her only son. Almost the whole town accompanies her in this sad moment. The Lord Jesus, moved by this woman’s fate, wants to comfort her. He stops the bearers without long words, without the mother’s pleading, without anyone’s begging; Jesus addresses the dead man: “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (Lk 7:14).
There is no simpler and shorter way to tell this story of the feeling of all those present. We see it from the same comment of the Evangelist Luke: “Here fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying….” (Lk 7:16).

It is a short story, yet we can observe several things about it. First, the Lord Jesus took the initiative, even though no one asked Him to do so. He wants to please the mother-widow.
Next, we can also notice that the Lord Jesus wants nothing in return. In doing so, it may seem that this is why He raised the boy. He could not watch his mother die and suffer. We may also notice that He does everything with such a matter-of-factness as if it were awakening from a dream.
Compare this with the resurrection of another boy.

The prophet Elijah also raised a boy to a woman under different circumstances. The woman of Zarephath received the prophet, Elijah, into her home. After a severe illness, her son dies. Under the pressure of these difficulties, the woman becomes confused. With reproach and supplication, she turns to the prophet, which is not what the woman in Naim does. The prophet first prays for a long time. Jesus did it quickly and with a kind of obviousness. Elijah, however, like Jesus, asks nothing of his mother. The resurrection that Elijah performed was more complex than that of Jesus. In both cases, we see that neither Elijah nor the Lord Jesus could bear the mourning of the mothers.

With this in mind, the question comes to mind: Why did God care about the sorrow of these women? Why were more widows in the days of Elijah and Jesus filled with grief over losing a son? But also the question, are there no other and greater sufferings in human history?
But on the other hand, we know these young men were not entirely exempt from death. In time, the shadow of death will fall upon them again, but they will mourn differently under different circumstances. Therefore we must remember that the resurrection is spoken of here, not the resurrection.

There is also the thought: Wouldn’t it be better to come to terms with that sad state of affairs – death, and things will be all right again? But God wants to show us that this is not about a kind of never-ending resurrection, endlessly prolonging our temporary existence. Still, it is about a new life, for which we are only preparing ourselves by this life on earth.
Here we are given a twofold lesson. God takes the initiative to resurrect us, and the resurrection he completes is not of the nature of life here on earth. Here we can pick up the beginning of Paul’s letter. Paul tells of the event that decided his conversion and adherence to the Lord Jesus. We see that he lays great stress on the election of God, for the gospels so far exceeded the mind of man that he could not receive them from a man but Christ. Only He could reveal them to him.

We will consider how Paul explains the difficulties that separated him from the Lord Jesus. The upbringing he had received and a life that was full of ambition prevented him from accepting the Gospel. Strange! Paul pursued the Church zealously and far above his peers. He leaves to secure other followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ. He was, after all, one of the most ardent supporters of the tradition of the Fathers. His whole nature is opposed to faith in Christ.
Later, Paul describes his first steps in the faith, which he took without the help of anyone, not guided by his reason, but living in solitude for three years in Arabia and then returning to Damascus. Only then did he meet Peter and James in Jerusalem.

We are persuaded that his conversion was the work of God. Everything he asked of God, he received. We can say that Paul was both raised and strengthened in his faith.
He sees the only meaning and purpose of his life in the Gospel because he knows that faith is a participation in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and gives him new life without end.
Paul’s conversion can be called a resurrection. The resurrection takes place after our death. We can be resurrected to new life by Jesus at some event when He seriously touches our life. We witness that adults often receive the Sacrament of Baptism voluntarily and at their request. However, we must remember that before they came to this decision, God led them down different paths, often unaware of the direction and destination He was taking them. We see this from the readings that God guides our paths by Himself. Therefore, we are to take our lives thoughtfully and surrender to God’s will, which is often mysterious to us in individual events. Yet, surrender to God is the guarantee of encounter in eternity. God cares for us more than we think, so let us offer ourselves wholly to Him.

The text of the reading has thus convinced us that our faith in God is our victory, which has a great perspective and a clear goal.
By being baptized, God has shown his interest in us before we could ask for it or do anything about it. God used our parents for this serious matter. Our mundane yet joyful lives prove God does not lose interest in us. We can boldly say that God wants us to come to eternal life after death. Therefore, we realize that giving ourselves wholly and entirely to Christ is a beautiful asset in our lives.
Even at this Mass, God is interested in each one of us. Our encounter with Christ in the Eucharist is the encounter of the living God with his creation.