Did the suffering widow of Naim remind Jesus of his own Mother?

The Lord, as Scripture says, was moved with great compassion when He saw this widow coming out from the city gate with her son on the funeral bier. Perhaps, in His knowledge of His own purpose, He thought of His own Mother, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.

There would come a day in his own life when His Mother, bereft of her protector, Joseph, would come forth from the Gate of another city – Jerusalem – in order to bury her only Son.

The Lord recognized the deep grief in the Widow of Nain. He felt her suffering – as He feels all of our suffering – and He performed an extraordinary miracle: He raised her son from the dead.

Now, we should not think that every horrible loss is met by God with such remarkable miracles. This is because, as Jesus said, His “Kingdom is not of this world.” But where there is not always the result for a miracle on the outside, there is always the possibility for a miracle on the inside.

Even the deepest hardship or loss can be restored in the interior person – in the human heart. Within this secret temple of our physical selves, healing of the heart, mending of the mind and even resurrection of the soul are all possible.

The difference between us and the Widow of Nain is not the degree of our pain, but that her miracle occurred in the external world of everyday life and death. Our miracles occur in the inner person, where change occurs for eternity, and not just the length of our earthly lifetime.

The Widow of Nain was doing her duty in burying her only child. She came forth from the City to do so, because the Jewish custom was not to bury the dead within city walls.

In like manner, the Lord was crucified and buried outside of Jerusalem, in accordance with Jewish law and custom. But we are called to go forth with purpose and understanding beyond the mere conventions of society. We are called to love and not hate; to lend and expect nothing in return; to give generously without thought to our own benefit. We are called to exit the conventions of this world for the reality of the next.

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Homily given on October 10, 2021, in Naples, Florida (USA)

Adapted from https://www.goarch.org/-/homily-oct102021-naples