Meeting Jesus at the Gate

Reflection for 24^th Week in Ordinary Time Year I

(1Tim 3:1-13; Lk 7:11-17)

St Paul instructs the young man Timothy about the moral standard of those to occupy the offices of Bishop and Deaconate. These are not common Church posts, and must not be occupied by new converts or people with questionable character. They must be people of discipline and high moral standard. In other words, such religious leaders must be marked with the sign of the cross. Only those who carry their Cross with Jesus can lead others on the path of the cross to meet Jesus.

In the Gospel Jesus makes his way into the City of Nain with his disciples and a great crowd. “As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crown from the city was with her.” The woman lost hope; she was an epitome hopeless. Sometimes we too find ourselves in certain situations where we lose hope. Maybe someone hurt you to the extent you just cannot let go, and there is no hope of being friends again. It may be a collapse of one’s finances, and there is no hope of achieving your dream. There are those experience moral relapse or addiction, and they do not envision healing, etc.

In any case, there are usually great crowd of mourners who ‘celebrate’ our hopeless, trying to give us courage to stay put and accept the hopeless situation. Thus the crowd accompanied the woman out of the city. Then they met Jesus at the gate! Without invitation, He was moved to compassion. He saw the hopelessness of the woman, who was so devastated that she could not even ask for help! This usually the case when one feels all hope is lost. Jesus stopped the procession and said, “Young man, I say to you arise.” The boy was restored to life immediately...Encountering Jesus at the gate changed the whole situation.

Hope is restored, but only when we meet Jesus. He has opened for us a permanent gate where surely we will meet Him. That gate is the Cross! There His compassion awaits us. The Cross is the gate where we enter and hope is restored, no matter the situation. That is the only place where hope of life is restored in death. Therefore, the Bishops, priests, deacons, etc who lead us in the procession of faith to encounter Jesus at the gate must be men of the Cross.

Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Ss Peter & Paul Catholic Church
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday September 17th, 2019.