"Jesus
loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus." This unique statement in John's gospel
tells us of the special relationship Jesus had with Martha, her sister, and her
brother.
Apparently
Jesus was a frequent guest at Martha's home in Bethany, a small village two
miles from Jerusalem. We read of three visits in Luke 10:38-42, John 11:1-53,
and John 12:1-9.
Many
of us find it easy to identify with Martha in the story Luke tells. Martha
welcomes Jesus and his disciples into her home and immediately goes to work to
serve them. Hospitality is paramount in the Middle East and Martha believed in
its importance. Imagine her frustration when her sister Mary ignores the rule
of hospitality and Martha's work in order to sit and listen to Jesus. Instead of
speaking to her sister, she asks Jesus to intervene. Jesus' response is not
unkind, which gives us an idea of his affection for her. He observes that
Martha is worried about many things that distract her from really being present
to him. He reminds her that there is only one thing that is truly important --
listening to him. And that is what Mary has done. In Martha we see ourselves --
worried and distracted by all we have to do in the world and forgetting to
spend time with Jesus. It is, however, comforting to note that Jesus loved her
just the same.
The
next visit shows how well Martha learned this lesson. She is grieving the death
of her brother with a house full of mourners when she hears that Jesus has just
come to the area. She gets up immediately and leaves the guests, leaves her
mourning, and goes to meet him.
Her
conversation with Jesus shows her faith and courage. In this dialogue she
states clearly without doubt that she believes in Jesus' power, in the
resurrection, and most of all that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus tells her
that he is the resurrection and the life and then goes on to raise her brother
from the dead. Our final picture of Martha in Scripture is the one that sums up
who she was. Jesus has returned to Bethany some time later to share a meal with
his good friends. In this home were three extraordinary people. We hear how
brother Lazarus caused a stir when was brought back to life. We hear how Mary
causes a commotion at dinner by annointing Jesus with expensive perfume. But
all we hear about Martha is the simple statement: "Martha served."
She isn't in the spotlight, she doesn't do showy things, she doesn't receive
spectacular miracles. She simply serves Jesus.
We
know nothing more about Martha and what happened to her later. According to a
totally untrustworthy legend Martha accompanied Mary to evangelize France after
Pentecost.
But
wouldn't it be wonderful if the most important thing that could be said about
us is "They served"?
Martha
is the patron saint of servants and cooks.
In Her Footsteps
Dorothy
Day said: "If everyone were holy and handsome, it would be easy to see
Christ in everyone. But it was not Christ's way for himself. Ask honestly what
you would do when a beggar asked at your house for food. Would you give it on
an old cracked plate, thinking that was good enough? Do you think that Martha
and Mary thought that the old and chipped dish was good enough for their guest?
It is not a duty to help Christ -- it is a privilege." In what ways do you
serve Christ others grudgingly or sparingly? How can you serve them the way
Martha served Christ, putting her whole self into it?
Prayer:
Saint
Martha, pray for us that we might serve Jesus better. Help us to overcome our
distractions and worries to listen to his words and be present to him this day.
Amen
1 John 4:7-16.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his
only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he
loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God
remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that
he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his
Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God
remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for
us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
Ps 34(33):2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9.10-11.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
The lowly will hear me and be glad.
Glorify the LORD with me,
Let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
And delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
And your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
And from all his distress he saved him.
The angel of the LORD encamps
Around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
Blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the LORD, you his holy ones,
for nought is lacking to those who fear him.
The great grow poor and hungry;
but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.
John 11:19-27.
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them
about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was
coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (But) even now I know that whatever you ask of
God, God will give you."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise."
Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the
resurrection on the last day."
Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe
that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."
Commentary of the day
:
Saint Augustine
(354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon 103, 1.5 ; PL
38, 613 (trans. cf breviary 29/07) "A woman called Martha welcomed Jesus into her house"
“All you did to one of the least of these, you did to me”
(Mt 25,40)... Here are reassuring words for you, Martha. Yet if I may say so,
Martha, while blessed in your good service, you are seeking a reward for your
labors, namely rest. Now you are occupied with much ministering; you feed
mortal bodies, though they be of saints, but when you have reached home at the
end of your journey will you find there a pilgrim to welcome? Will you find any
hungry to feed? Any thirsty to whom you may offer drink? Any sick to visit? Any
quarreling to reconcile? Any dead to bury? None of these will be there. But
what will be there? What Mary has chosen: there we shall be fed, we shall not
feed others. And so what Mary chose here will be full and perfect there: from
that rich table she collected crumbs from the Lord's word. And so you wish to
know what will be there? The Lord himself says of his servants: “Truly, I say
to you, he will have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them” (Lk
12,37).
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