Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 29, 2020 - July 29 - St. Martha
[1 John 4:7-16 and John 11:19-27 or Luke 10:38-42,678]"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died...." [John] "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." [Luke]
JULY 29 ST. MARTHA
The wonderful character of Martha seems to have endured over the years in the earliest Christian community! The Gospel According to John was put into writing 40 to 50 years after the Gospel According to Luke! In both cases, Martha makes it clear that she is not going to be pushed around, not even by Jesus! Jesus, on his part, shows wonderful forbearance and calm in front of Hurricane Martha! But we owe her a debt of gratitude because she is the dramatic "foil" for two different but important statements from Jesus.
In the Gospel According to Luke, the story of Mary and Martha appears right after the parable of the Good Samaritan, the challenge of compassionate service to all. Martha is certainly a busy servant. But she is so busy doing the work of the Lord that she may be forgetting the Lord of the work! Mary sits at Jesus' feet and listens to him. Finding the right balance will ever be a challenge to any Christian.
In the Gospel According to John, Martha again scolds Jesus for not coming earlier to save her brother. Jesus reminds her that he is in charge of life and death and faith in him will mean life not only to Martha but to Lazarus. "I am the resurrection and the life!" She remains worried even at the tomb: "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days!" Jesus takes care of that worry in a very definite way by raising Lazarus!
Martha remains Martha and those of us who have a measure of her in ourselves can rejoice that we are well represented in the gospels. AMEN
Comment on Reflection
<< Previous Date [Back to List] Next Date >>