20th Sunday after Pentecost

[尼古拉前执事]

Here is the Gospel for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost thank to OrthodoxyNow:

Luke 7:11-16

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.

[尼古拉前执事]

20th Sunday after Pentecost - Raising the Son of the Widow of Nain
Luke 7:11-16
From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Luke
by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

11-16. And it came to pass the day after, that He went into a citycalled Nan; and many of His disciples went with Him, and much people. Now when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city waswith her. And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And He came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, that a great prophet is risen up among us; and, that God hath visited His people. Because the Lord, while not even present, had healed the centurions servant, He now performs another even more remarkable miracle. He does this so that no one could say, "What is remarkable about the healing of the centurions servant? Perhaps the servant would not have died in any case." This is why the Lord now raises up the dead man as he was being carried out for burial. He does not perform the miracle by His word alone, but also touches the bier, teaching us that His very Body is life. Because God the Word Who gives life to all things Himself became flesh, therefore His flesh itself is likewise life-creating, and takes away death and corruption. The dead man sat up and began to speak, so that some would not think that his rising was only an apparition. Sitting up and speaking are definite proofs of resurrection from the dead--how can a lifeless body sit up and speak? You may also understand the widow to mean the soul which has suffered the loss of its husband, the Word of God Which sows the good seed. The son of such a widow is the mind which is dead and is being carried outside the city, that is, outside the heavenly Jerusalem which is the land of the living. The Lord then takes pity and touches the bier. The bier which carries the dead mind is the body. And indeed the body is like a tomb, as the ancient Greeks said, calling the body [sma] a burial mound [sma], which means a tomb. Having touched the body, the Lord then raises the mind, restoring its youth and vigor. And after the young man, meaning the mind, has sat up, raised from the tomb of sin, he will begin to speak, that is, to teach others. While he is in the grip of sin, he cannot speak or teach--who would believe him?

[尼古拉前执事]

Umm, anyone else?

...

Please?

[Грешник]

I shall post from the ONT:

7:12a. Saint Bede: "The dead man is a figure of a man struck senseless by the fatal wound of his sins. And rightly is he spoken of as 'an only son of his mother.' For, though assembled from many persons, one is the perfect, immaculate virgin, Mother Church, and each one of the faithful rightly prfesses himself a son of the Church. The gate df the city, I think, is any one of the bodily senses...Whoever will not guard his senses, leaves open a way for death to enter. May Jesus make all the gates of my city, gates of justice, that, going in them, I may give praise to Thy name [Ps. 117(118):19] and praise to Thy majesty ;and that, visiting it often with thine heavenly ministers, Thou may meet no evil odor of a dead body carried forth, but that salvation shall posess its walls and praise its gates [Is. 60:18]." ]"The Gates of Death," P.L. 92. In Exposition of Luke, Lib. II, 7, col. 417; in Toal, IV:129,130]

7:12b. Saint Bede: "We are told that 'she was a widow'; for every soul which remembers that it has been redeemed by the death of her Lord and Spouse confesses the Church is a widow." [Ib.]

7:14. Saint Bede: "Those who bear him to the grave are the unclean desires which drag a man down to destruction....'And those hearing it stood still, 'when the Lord touched the bier: even as the conscience, when touched by the fear of the heavenly judgement--keeping back the pressing throng of carnal delights, and the multitude that wickedly praise it--returns ot itself, and answersin haste the voice of the Savior calling it back to life." [Ib., 131.]

7:15. Saint Ambrose: "This woman seems to be more than a woman who has by her tears deserved to obtain the resurrection of her only grown son. Holy Church, who has been forbidden to weep for Him Whom to Whom the resurrection is owed through regard for her tears, calls back to life a younger people from the funeral procession and the ashes of the grave....After Jesus' touch, he who was borne on the wood to the grave, came to life, in order ot serve as a sign that salvation must be poured out upon the people through the yoke of the Cross." [Ib., Bk. V, 90.]

7:15. Saint Kyril: "It is death that has brought men to old ageand corruption; death, therefore, has made old, that is to say, has corrupted [cf. 1 Cor. 15:56]; for, 'that which is becoming obsolete and growing old is near to disappearing [Heb. 8:13],' but Christ renews, in that He is the Life." [Hom. 36, Commentary, Ch. 7, 154.]

[尼古拉前执事]

Thank you Juvenaly. Anybody else have any patristics or thoughts?

[Julianna]

Vladika's homily can be found here:

http://euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8922#8922

[Mary Kissel]

bump sorry for bumping this up late.