Month of the Holy Souls (Nov 15)
November 15, 2025
Day 15
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (7:11-17)
Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus* gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
From a sermon by St. Augustine of Hippo
No Christian should doubt that even today the dead are being raised to life. Yet, while everyone has eyes capable of seeing the dead rise in the way the widow’s son rose, as we have just heard in the gospel, the ability to see the spiritually dead arise is possessed only by those who have themselves experienced a spiritual resurrection.
It is a greater thing to raise what will live for ever than to raise what must die again. When the young man in the gospel was raised, his widowed mother rejoiced; when souls are daily raised from spiritual death, mother Church rejoices. The young man was dead in body, these latter are dead in spirit. Those who witnessed the lad’s visible death mourned openly and visibly, but the invisible death of the dead in spirit was neither seen nor thought about.
The Lord Jesus sought out those he knew to be dead, and he alone could make them live again. Unless he had come to raise the dead the Apostle would not have said: Rise up, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. Rise up, sleeper, of course, makes you think of someone slumbering, but when the Apostle goes on to say, rise from the dead, you realize that he really means a dead person. The visibly dead are often said to be sleeping; and indeed for one who has power to wake them they are only sleeping. A person is dead as far as you are concerned if he does not waken no matter how much you slap or pinch or even wound him. But for Christ the young man he commanded to rise was only sleeping,
because he immediately got up. Christ raises the dead from their graves more easily than another can rouse a sleeper from his bed.
Our Lord Jesus Christ wished us to understand that what he did for people’s bodies he also did for their souls. He did not work miracles merely for miracles’ sake; his object was that his deeds might arouse wonder in the beholders and reveal the truth to those capable of understanding.
A person who sees the letters in a beautifully written book without being able to read them will praise the skill of the copyist because he admires the graceful shape of the letters, but the purpose and meaning of these letters he does not grasp. What he sees with his eyes prompts him to praise, but his mind is not enriched with knowledge. Another, praising the artistry, will also grasp the meaning; one, that is, who is able not only to see what everyone else sees but also to read it, which is a skill that has to be learned. So too, those who observed Christ’s miracles without grasping their purpose and the meaning they had for those able to understand, simply admired the deeds. Others went further: they admired the deeds and also grasped the meaning. As pupils in the school of Christ, we must be such as these.
Musical Selection
Christ in me arise and dispel all the darkness.
Christ in me arise with your power and your strength.
Christ in me pour out your blessing and healing.
Christ in me arise and I shall rise with you.
Showing me all that I must see.
Onward to the kingdom, you are the way.
Arise in me and I shall rise with you.
Taking me where I must go.
Onward to the kingdom, you are the way.
Arise in me and I shall rise with you.
You know my heart and you know my ways,
You who formed me in my mother's womb.
I live and move in you, my whole being thrives in you.
Christ in me arise and dispel all the darkness.
Christ in me arise with your power and your strength.
Christ in me pour out your blessing and healing.
Christ in me arise and I shall rise with you.
Christ in me arise, Christ in me arise,
Christ in me arise and I shall rise with you.
Prayer
Almighty and merciful God,
whose Son willingly suffered death for our sake,
grant in your goodness that your servants
may share the glory and triumph of his resurrection.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.