Friday, July 29, 2022

 Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

(Jeremiah 26:1-9; John 11:19-27)

If all we knew about St. Martha was that she complained to Jesus that her sister left her with all entertaining chores, we could hardly call her a saint.  Fortunately for her and for us, she had an opportunity to redeem herself in the gospels.  In today’s passage Martha shows that her faith has penetrated the mystery of Christ.

Martha initially exhibits her typical forthrightness.  She goes out to meet Jesus and even complains about his being late!  But when Jesus asks her if she believes in him, she shows that she has been meditating over his words like Mary in the familiar story from Luke’s gospel.  Martha then proclaims Jesus the only Son of God come to save the world.

We too must take care to recognize Jesus for who he is.  He is certainly more than a great prophet.  He eclipses the sun in importance to us.  He is the savior who leads us from sin and death into everlasting life.  More than anyone or anything else, we want to stay close to him.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Memorial of Saint Martha

(Jeremiah 10:15.16-21; John 11:19-27)

We are accustomed to thinking of time and space as having different coordinates. Space has its set which marks a person’s locale.  Time gives another dimension that places a person in different locales at different moments.  Einstein showed how time and space can be brought together with one set of coordinates.  These coordinates can expand space to virtually infinite distances or, alternatively, stretch time virtually to forever. In the gospel Jesus invites Martha to think of him in a comparable way.

Jesus asks Martha if she believes that he is “the resurrection and the life.”  He does not refer to himself as destined to rise again but expresses himself as the resurrection itself.  Anyone who knows Jesus, therefore, experiences the resurrection. The person is put on the space-time continuum such that she is catapulted out of the ordinary space and time sets of coordinates into a new kind of existence.  This existence has universal range and lasts for forever.

But what does it mean to “know Jesus”?  It is to be touched by him whose love is oceanic deep and nuclearly powerful so that we are utterly transformed.  Like iron is magnetized after being rubbed by a magnet, we are made into perfectly loving creatures by being touched by Jesus.  We are we so touched by reading intently the Word of God and, most of all, by receiving sincerely the Eucharist.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Memorial of Saint Martha

(Exodus 32:15-24.30-34; John 11:19-27)

In today’s gospel Martha exhibits the same initiative that she shows in Luke’s account of the two sisters.  She goes out to Jesus with a complaint.  This time, however, her criticism is directed toward Jesus, not toward Mary.  She tells him that if he had come when they called him, Lazarus would not have died.  Jesus is kinder to her than the last time around perhaps because she is in mourning.  He asks her whether she believes in him as the resurrection and the life.

Martha does not hesitate to express her faith.  She is, after all, a saint.  She acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah, the one coming to liberate the world from death.  She also shows patience to see his mighty works.  Rather than fret any longer, she graciously goes to tell her sister about Jesus’ arrival.

It is hard to wait on the Lord, especially when we are suffering.  We want him to act now to relieve our pain.  Saints realize that God’s time is not our time.  His apparent slowness may make us stronger in faith or more persistent in hope.  Whatever the reason, we know that if we love Him, all will turn out well.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Memorial of Saint Martha

(Jeremiah 29:1-9; John 11:19-27)

Perhaps no actor in America has been as cherished as Lucille Ball.  She became famous in the television series “I Love Lucy” of the early 1950s.  Her performances in different episodes are still regularly cited.  Lucy was so very human with most of the virtues and some of the shortcomings that describe the best of us.  She can be compared with the character of Martha in the gospels. 

Martha is well described as a friend of Jesus.  She does not hesitate to ask his assistance in the famous passage from the Gospel of Luke.  She also seems intimate enough with Jesus to question his behavior without worrying about loss of affection.  In today’s gospel she implies a criticism of Jesus for delaying his trip to Bethany.  But above all Martha shows extraordinary regard for Jesus as she recognizes him as “the Christ, the Son of God.” 

Martha’s relationship with the Lord should encourage all of us.  Like her we often find ourselves hitting our heads for talking too much. We may even wonder like her why it takes so long for Jesus to respond to our needs.  But once again like her we believe that he is the Christ who has come into the world to lead us to eternal life.

Tuesday, Jul 29, 2014

Memorial of Saint Martha

(Jeremiah 14:17-22; John 11:19-27)

When the father of the boy possessed by a demon exclaims to Jesus, “I do believe; help my unbelief,” he expresses the faith of most every Christian.  Even Martha, a close friend of the Lord, shows a fault line in her belief as in today’s gospel.

Martha makes a declaration of faith as bold as Peter’s in the first three gospels.  She calls Jesus “’…the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.’”  But she fails to realize the meaning of her statement.  When Jesus says that her dead brother will rise, she considers it a reference to the vague end of times.  She does not recognize that the Jesus standing before her is new life itself.  Not understanding the full meaning of her words, Martha will worry about mundane things like the smell of decomposing flesh when Jesus orders her brother’s tomb opened.

Although we may take comfort in knowing that we are not alone in posing questions of faith, it is important to move beyond this point.  Full faith will make stronger and more attentive to others’ needs.  It will assure that we do what is right in trial and keep us squarely on the road to the fullness of life.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Memorial of Saint Martha

(Exodus 32:15-24.30-34; John 11:19-27)

It seems capricious of the Church to honor Martha with an obligatory memorial while not giving her sister Mary a similar distinction.  After all, in Luke’s gospel Jesus recognizes that Mary has acted more prudently than her sister.  However, if part of the Church’s strategy in allotting the celebration of the saints is the edification of the faithful, we have to search for what Martha has to teach us.

First and most important, Martha shows us not to be shy about approaching Jesus.  He is our friend who will help us when we are perplexed, especially when our distress is great as in today’s gospel.  Second, Martha provides a sterling example of the virtue of hospitality.  She sacrifices herself to entertain Jesus just as the Benedictines recommends that every guest be treated as if she or he were the Lord.  Finally, again in today’s gospel passage, Martha makes the same act of faith in Jesus as Peter does in the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke when she calls him, “the Messiah, the Son of God.”

Martha may not have sat at Jesus’ feet, but she knows his worth.  We are wise to contemplate Jesus’ words like Mary and serve him in others like Martha.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Memorial of Saint Martha

(Jeremiah 18:1-6; John 11:19-27)

After hearing of John Kennedy’s escapades, one wonders why he is considered a great president. Yet many throughout the earth revere his memory because his vigor and articulateness represented the hope of using strength as a source of renewing the world in virtue. In a similar way we have to ask why we honor Martha as a saint after Jesus reproaches her in the Gospel of Luke for fussing over details while neglecting the central concern of existence.

We need look no farther than the reading today from the Gospel according to John. In it today Martha shows that she has learned Jesus’ lesson. More than any other personage in the gospels with the exception of the once doubting Thomas, Mary recognizes Jesus for whom he is. She not only accepts his self-description of being the resurrection and the life but can confidently add that he is “’the Christ, the son of the living God, the one who is coming into the world.’” What Jesus says to Peter after he made a similar, but not quite as complete, a claim applies to Martha here, “’Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my Father who is in heaven.’”

Martha’s confession gives us confidence to proclaim our faith. Yes, sometimes we become discouraged by the pain we see around us. At other times we may feel confused by the disbelief of intelligent, even good, people. Yet we know that Jesus has shown himself to be the Lord and comes, more regularly even than we expect, to save us.

Homilete for Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Memorial of St. Martha

(John 11:19-27)

In the Gospel of John, Martha seems to be the same kind of go-getter that we see in the Gospel of Luke. We remember how she chides Jesus there for allowing her sister to sit at his feet while she busies herself with the chores of entertaining. Here she starts on the same critical tone as she reminds Jesus that Lazarus would not have died if he had been there. Then she expresses a degree of faith in Jesus by saying that God would give him anything that he asks. Jesus helps her to see that he is more than a healer and holy man. He is “...the resurrection and the life.” Of course, Jesus eventually raises Lazarus from the dead.

We may ask why Martha is considered a saint. Is it just because she expresses belief in Jesus? No, there is more to it than that. Saints are both intercessors and models. Martha petitions the Lord on behalf of her brother as a faith-filled intercessor. In doing so, she shows us how to pray. We do not need half-dollar words to pray, but we have to see Jesus as a friend who can help us. Let us refer to him first in any situation of distress and then figure out what we might do to alleviate the need.