10th Sunday - C

Commentary
Luke 7: 11-17

God has Visited His People

Witnessing the miracle of Jesus raising the dead man back to life, people exclaim, “God has visited his people.”

This is the promise God made to their ancestors. And at the beginning of his account of Jesus’ life, Luke has announced the time of God’s fulfilling this promise (in the prayer of Zechariah, Luke 1: 68).

Yet, in Jesus, we witness not just the miraculous power of God. In Jesus, we come to know and live in God’s mercy.

“Unlike most miracle story, here Jesus himself takes the initiative. There is no request made to him to intervene.” [1] It was Jesus, who seeing the grieving mother, “was moved with pity for her.” We know the rest of the story.

Jesus notices a marginalized person – a widow whose only son has died. He speaks to her. And he helps her.

As he is helping the grieving mother, Jesus even makes himself ritually impure when he touches the coffin. That for sure is no concern for him.

He did all of these because his heart is moved with pity for the suffering widow. His concern is for her.

Jesus is the incarnation of mercy. In him, God, who is mercy, [2] has visited his people.

Each moment of our life is a moment immersed in God’s mercy because Jesus is with us.

And when we show mercy to others, we proclaim to them that God, in His mercy, has visited His people.


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[1] Francis J. Moloney, SDB., The Gospel of The Lord – Reflections on the Gospel Readings, Year C. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991; p. 134.

[2] Pope Francis.