MONDAY, SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus
Jer 13:1-11 Dt 32: 18-21 Jn 11:19-27/Lk 10:38-42
WELCOMING JESUS IN OUR HOMES
In the house of Bethany, Jesus experienced a family spirit and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and for this reason, he loved them. Martha generously offered Him hospitality, Mary listened docilely to His words and Lazarus promptly left the tomb at the command of Him who humiliated death. Pope Francis Says: “God always knocks at the door of hearts. He likes to do this. It comes from His heart. But, do you know what He likes best? To knock on the doors of families and find families that are united, to find families that love each other…”
Martha and Mary are, in the Gospels, the image and symbol of the disciple, who alternates meditation and prayer with industriousness and work must be like. An incorrect interpretation of the Gospels has contrasted the two sisters who, are two tracks on which the train of faith runs. There is no meditation that does not result in action. A service that does not draw strength from prayer is sterile. The Church celebrates Marta’s activism, attentive to the needs of her guest, concrete in preparing him a dinner. Jesus’ benevolent reproach is certainly not addressed to her action – The master appreciated the dinner very much! – but to the concern and agitation that characterized Martha’s good initiative. We are called to act, and to make our faith concrete but with an eye continually turned to the Lord: he is the origin of our service, he is the motivation, he is the reward.
Today we seek to welcome Jesus within us like Martha welcomed him in Bethany. We want to serve him and serve others with the same receptive vigour with which she served him in Bethany. We reaffirm our faith in him and everything he says. And we commit ourselves to go and announce the good news that the Son of God has come into the world and is calling us and everyone we know to a life of loving communion with Him that will continue even after death.
Response: You forgot the God who gave you birth.
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