St. John Chrysostom

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"Doctor of the Eucharist"

The Gospel today was Luke 7:11-17 where Jesus takes pity on a widowed mother who is burying her only son and raises him from the dead.

Magnificat had a pertinent excerpt by St. John Chrysostom for the day's meditation. It is in part as follows:

"Do you wish to honor the departed? Honor him in other ways; namely, by giving alms, performing good works, taking part in the divine services. What good is done him by copious weeping?...

Let us look heavenward; let us reflect on spiritual considerations...

By showing excessive grief, therefore, we offend God and help neither ourselves nor the departed.

By restraining our grief...we both please God and conduct ourselves becomingly in the eyes of men...

'Yet how is it possible for a man not to grieve,' you will ask, 'when he has lost his son, or his daughter, or his wife?' I am not saying: 'Do not grieve,' but: "Do not give way to unrestrained grief.' ...Grieve, rather, for your sins. This is in truth the best kind of sorrow; this is the soundest practice of Christian teachings. Let us, then, give way to this grief continually that we may obtain joy in the life to come, by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory be to Him for ever and ever. Amen.

- Saint John Chrysostom