examination of the heart 290 FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Before Holy Communion 1. “behold, a man who had died was being carried out” (Lk 7:12). Consider that people bewail nothing with more tears, nor experience anything with more pain, than the death of their own family members and the loss of their fellowship. Would you rejoice at the sight of your soul being put to death through sin? Do you realize that you were deprived of God’s friendship because of it, and that you lost His grace? Mortal sin brings the two greatest evils into the soul: it causes its death and deprives it of unity, intimacy, and fellowship with God. But behold! You have come within sight of the Savior. Oh, how fortunate is the soul that will be raised! 2. “was being carried out, the only son of his mother” (Lk 7:12). There was no hope for life since the dead body was carried to the tomb. If the Lord of life were not to meet that son, the only child of his mother, he would be raised from the dead only on the final day of resurrection. Therefore, to what do we attribute his good fortune, that the Reviver of the dead should meet him when he was being carried to his tomb? Not to a coincidence, but to Divine Providence. I see, my soul, that it happens with you also. Injured by your evil deeds you died, and perhaps you were to remain in this death, or in a tomb of many evil deeds until the day of the [f.80v] strict judgment, if God’s grace had not met you, drawing you to Holy Communion. You are not only going to recover in it the life you had lost, but you are also going to gain a greater vigor to live in a spiritual way. Certainly, this did not happen by chance, but by the Providence of God, who established in your religious institute this salutary custom of frequent reception of Holy Communion. Hence, what great thanks you should give to Him, that He has placed you here! 3. “she was a widow: and a large crowd from the city was with her” (Lk 7:12).
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