Gospel (Except USA)John 11:19-27I am the resurrection and the life. Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said: ‘I am the resurrection and the life.If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ Gospel (USA)John 11:19-27I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. 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 anyone 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 Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” (i) Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus We don’t often have the feast of two sisters and a brother. John’s gospel suggests that Jesus had a warm, friendly, relationship with this family. Earlier in the chapter from which our gospel reading is taken, the evangelist tells us that ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus’. When the sisters sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was ill, their message was, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill’. Later on in this same chapter, when Jesus saw Mary weeping because her brother Lazarus had died, it is said that, ‘Jesus began to weep’, and those present said, ‘See how he loved him’. Martha, Mary and Lazarus are beloved disciples of Jesus. To that extent they represent us all. What Jesus said to his disciples at the last supper in John’s gospel is said to us all, ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love’. Beloved disciples, like Martha, Mary and Lazarus, are not spared the trauma of profound loss in the face of physical death. Jesus himself, the beloved Son of God, experienced the cruellest of deaths on a Roman cross. Yet, Jesus’ words to Martha in today’s gospel reading assures her, and all beloved disciples, that the bond which his love for us and our faith in him creates will not be broken by death. Rather, that bond will be deepened as we come to share in his own risen life. ‘If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. Yes, the Lord’s beloved disciples will die, as he did, but beyond death they will live, and, therefore, they will never die in the ultimate sense. According to our first reading, the essence of God is love, and God’s love for us was revealed when ‘God sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him’. This is the hope which the feast of this beloved family gives us. And/Or (ii) Feast of Saint Martha Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Martha. She appears in two of the four gospels, Luke and John, in each case in the company of her sister Mary. In one of the two gospel readings for today’s feast, the one from John, Martha is portrayed as a woman in grief, because of the death of her brother Lazarus. Martha, her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus are referred to as loved by Jesus, as friends of Jesus. This is a family of disciples who have experienced the love of God present in Jesus and have responded to that love. Martha’s grief at the death of her brother Lazarus is the grief of a disciple, of a believer. Her opening words to Jesus on his arrival seem to express her disappointment at Jesus’ absence at the time of her brother’s death, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died’. She symbolizes every believer who struggles to come to terms with the apparent absence of the Lord in the face of the stark reality of the death of a loved one. Yet, her grief does not leave her hopeless, as is evident from her subsequent words to Jesus, ‘I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you’. To the grieving, yet hopeful, Martha, Jesus reveals himself as the resurrection and the life and he then makes a wonderful promise that has spoken to grieving believers down through the centuries. The promise declares that all who believe in Jesus already share in Jesus’ risen life, and that the moment of physical death will not break that life-giving communion with Jesus. The question Jesus addresses to Martha, ‘Do you believe this?’ is addressed to every believer, and we are all asked to make our own Martha’s response to Jesus’ question. ‘Yes, Lord, I believe...’. And/Or (iii) Feast of Saint Martha Martha was the sister of Mary, according to today’s gospel reading from Luke. It might strike us as strange that we have a feast of Saint Martha but no feast of Saint Mary, Martha’s sister. This is all the more strange when we consider that on hearing that gospel reading most people think that Martha comes off worse than Mary. After all, according to Jesus, it is Mary who ‘has chosen the better part’. Yet, Jesus addresses Martha in a very striking way in that gospel reading as ‘Martha, Martha’. It is very rare that Jesus addresses someone by their personal name twice in the gospels. Jesus calls Martha by her name twice. In doing so, he reveals his love for her or, as the first reading expresses it, God’s love for her revealed in himself. ‘God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world his only Son’. There is clearly a great goodness to Martha. She seems like a woman who puts her heart into everything, just as she was putting her heart into providing hospitality for Jesus. Yet, there was something no quite right in her life. Jesus addresses her as a woman who worries and frets about so many things. She is consumed with anxiety when there is no need for it. For all her goodness, she has something to learn from her sister Mary with whom she is clearly angry. She can learn from her sister than sometimes being is more important than doing and listening to others can be a greater form of service than providing for them. Martha is a really good woman who hasn’t quite got the balance right in her life. In that way she can be an encouragement to us all. There can be great goodness in us, even though we are far from perfect. There can be much in our lives for the Lord to admire, even though we still have a journey to travel. We are all on the way, just as Martha is on the way in today’s gospel reading. The important thing is to value the good that is in all of us and to invite the Lord to bring his good work in our lives to completion. And/Or (iv) Feast of Saint Martha The gospels give the impression that Jesus was very close to the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. He often found a welcome in their home. They were among his friends. We can forget that because Jesus was fully human he had the same need for human friendship as every other human being. There is an intimacy to the scene in today’s gospel reading that we associate with a gathering of friends. Jesus is welcomed by Martha into her home. She gives expression to her friendship of Jesus by preparing a meal for him. She is evidently a good and generous host. Mary, Martha’s sister, expresses her friendship for Jesus in a different way. She sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to him speaking. Hospitality and friendship can take more than one form. We can be very active on friends’ behalf, such as by preparing a fine meal for them, or we can simply be present to them and listen to them. The gospel reading suggests that Martha did not appreciate the way that Mary was giving expression to her friendship of Jesus. She wanted Jesus to put pressure on Mary to help her in preparing the meal. It is an example of the tensions that can emerge in all close relationships. Jesus shows his love for Martha by addressing her twice by her own name, ‘Martha, Martha’. However, he does not comply with Martha’s request but declares that on this occasion Mary has chosen the better part. Jesus seems to have wanted someone to listen to him more than someone to feed him. The Book of Qoheleth declares that there is a time for everything under the sun. In the light of today’s gospel reading, we might say that ‘there is a time to be still and a time to be busy’. When Jesus entered their home, it was Mary who recognized that it was a time to be still. There are times in our lives when all the Lord wants from us is that we be still in his presence and listen to his word. And/Or (v) Feast of Saint Martha One of the most profound statements ever made about God is present in today’s first reading, from the first letter of Saint John, ‘God is love’. Those three words express the fullest possible insight into God. At this point in his letter, the author wants to stress not, what he calls, ‘our love for God’, but, as he says, ‘God’s love for us’. He also states that God revealed his identity as ‘Love’, his love for us by sending his Son into the world so that we could have life through him. All authentic love, all self-giving love, is always life-giving for others. This is supremely true of God’s love for us. It is a love that is life-giving in the sense that it brings us into a sharing in God’s own life, what we call eternal life. This is the promise that Jesus makes to Martha in today’s gospel reading, in the wake of the death of her brother Lazarus. It is a promise that has given hope to believers ever since in the face of death, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. Jesus acknowledges there the reality of physical death those who believe in him, ‘even though they die’. Yet, he affirms that our life-giving communion with him which our faith creates will not be broken by death. Rather, our communion with the Lord will be deepened beyond the moment of physical death and, so, we will come to share more fully in his risen life. Martha, the woman of faith, whose feast we celebrate today, was the recipient of that great promise of Jesus on behalf of us all. In speaking to her, the Lord was speaking to each of us. Her question to her is addressed to each one of us, ‘Do you believe this?’ Today’s feast of Saint Martha is an appropriate moment to make our own her response to Jesus’ question, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who has come into this world’. To Martha’s answer we can add, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the resurrection and the life’. And/Or (vi) Feast of Saint Martha This feast has a certain significance for me because it is the anniversary of my father’s death. I was aware that he had a devotion to Saint Martha. There was a novena to Saint Martha over nine Tuesdays, with a candle lit on each Tuesday. A section of the novena prayer read, ‘Comfort me in all my difficulties, and through the great favour you enjoyed when the Saviour was lodged in your house, intercede for my family that we be provided for in our necessities’. I can see how that prayer would have appealed to my father, and indeed to any parent. The gospel reading from John for today's feast is often chosen for a funeral Mass, and it was the gospel reading for my father’s funeral Mass. We can sympathize with Martha’s gentle rebuke of Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died’. There was a recognition there of Jesus’ healing power, but also an expression of disappointment that he did not come sooner. We can all feel a little let down by the Lord when a loved one dies. The timing of death rarely seems right to us. Jesus’ response to Mary’s disappointment and grief has spoken to believers ever since as they struggle to let go of a loved one from this life, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die the will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. Jesus is declaring that our present communion with him, which his love for us and our faith in him creates, will not be broken by death. In virtue of that communion, we already live with his risen life, over which death has no power. The question Jesus then addresses to Martha is addressed to us all, ‘Do you believe this?’ On this her feast day we are invited to make her response to Jesus’ question our own, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe…’ And/Or (vii) Feast of Saint Martha, Mary and Lazarus In February 2021 Pope Francis approved a decree changing the liturgical feast of Saint Martha to include her sister, Mary, and her brother, Lazarus. The decree states that, ‘In the household of Bethany, the Lord Jesus experienced the family spirit and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus’. The change to the name of the feast recognizes that Jesus was befriended by a family. We all have individual friends, but it is a special blessing when a whole family befriends us. We come to share in the life journey of the family members, sharing in their joys and sorrows, their significant celebrations and their times of struggle. Jesus had a close relationship with this family of two sisters and a brother. They welcomed him into their home. Jesus’ relationship with this family is described in two of the four gospels. According to John’s gospel, when Lazarus was seriously ill, Jesus was immediately contacted by the two sisters. Although Lazarus died before Jesus arrived, Jesus brought Lazarus back from death to life and spoke a wonderful word of hope to Martha that has consoled believers ever since as they grieve the death of a loved one, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. In Luke’s gospel, both sisters showed Jesus hospitality when he visited them. Martha’s hospitality took the form of active serving, preparing a meal for Jesus. Mary’s hospitality took the form of sitting at his feet and listening to him speaking. Martha did not appreciate Mary’s way of showing hospitality, judging her to be inconsiderate towards herself. Jesus did appreciate Mary’s way of showing hospitality. He was of the view that Martha had something to learn from Mary. Perhaps Jesus had something important to say and he needed a listening ear more than an elaborate meal. In our dealings with others, there is a time to sit and listen to them and a time to get busy serving them. There is a wisdom in knowing which form of hospitality is being called for at any given time. In our relationship with the Lord too, there is a time to sit and listen to him in prayer, and there is a time to become one of his labourers, by bringing his loving presence in practical ways to those we meet. ----------------------------- Gospel (Except USA)John 11:19-27I am the resurrection and the life. Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said: ‘I am the resurrection and the life.If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ Gospel (Except USA)John 11:19-27I am the resurrection and the life. Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said: ‘I am the resurrection and the life.If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ (i) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Sometimes we may feel that our good efforts at something are bearing very little fruit. We can get into a frame of mind that says, ‘What good have I been doing with my life?’ We can feel that we have precious little to show for our endeavours. Yet, we can be doing a lot of good without realizing it or recognizing it. We can sometimes forget that even a little can go a long way. The little efforts we make, the little good we do, can have an impact for the better beyond our imagining. That seems to be the message of the two parables that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading. The mustard seed is tiny and yet it grows into a very large shrub. What looks completely insignificant takes on a life of its own and develops in a way that is out of proportion to the small beginning. Sometimes in our own lives, the little we do can go on to become something that we had never envisaged, and might never even get to see. The little bit of yeast that a woman places in a large batch of dough has a huge impact on that large batch. Again, in our own lives, the little good we do can impact on those around us in ways that would surprise us. Jesus says, that is what the kingdom of God is like. What is small and seemingly insignificant can turn out to be powerful and beneficial for many. And/Or (ii) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time The two parables Jesus speaks in this morning’s gospel reading are an image of his own ministry. His work in Galilee is like the mustard seed and the leaven; it is very small scale and to outsiders would have looked somewhat unpromising. Jesus has not been sweeping all before him. He has been going about his work quietly, without fanfare. Yet, the parables suggests that these small beginnings are the promise of something wonderful to come, just as the mustard seed becomes a tree where the birds of the air build their nests and the tiny leaven has a huge impact on three measures of flower. Humble beginnings can have an extraordinary outcome when the work in question is God’s work. There is an encouragement to us all to keep doing the little bit of good we are able to do. It may not seem much in our own eyes or in the eyes of others, yet God can work powerfully through whatever little good we do, in ways that will surprise us. We can all plant the equivalent of the mustard seed; we can all be the equivalent of the leaven. The little initiative, the small gesture, the offer of help, can all bear fruit in ways that we could never have imagined at the time. The Lord can work powerfully through our smallest efforts if they are done out of love for him. Our calling is often to plant some good seed and to trust that the Lord will do the rest. And/Or (iii) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time It is likely that Jesus spoke the two parables we have just heard as a word of encouragement to his disciples. God’s kingdom was not coming through the ministry of Jesus as quickly and as powerfully as many of Jesus’ followers might have expected. Indeed, the longer Jesus’ ministry went on, the more opposition and hostility he encountered, especially from those in powerful positions. In this setting of growing hostility, Jesus reassures his disciples that, in spite of the small and insignificant progress being made, God’s good work would come to pass, and God’s kingdom would come in all its fullness. The seed, small as it was, had been sown, and its growth is assured. Similarly, just as a small amount of yeast has a significant impact on a large amount of flour, Jesus’ ministry will eventually have an enormous impact for good. Jesus’ words of encouragement are as necessary for disciples today as they were for those original disciples. We can get discouraged by how things are with the church today and with our world, and even with our own lives as the Lord’s disciples. Today’s gospel reading assures us that a seed has been sown by the Lord and its growth is assured, a power for good has been released, the power of the Spirit, and its impact for good is not in doubt. There is no room for complacency, but there is also no room for despondency. As Saint Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians, God’s ‘power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine’. And/Or (iv) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time In today’s gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus speaks two parables, one which features a man and the other a woman, a farmer who sows mustard seed and a woman who bakes bread. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus again speaks two parables that feature a man and a woman, a shepherd who looks for his lost sheep and a woman who searches for her lost coin. The experience of men and women were important to Jesus; both sets of experiences could speak to him about the ways of God in the world. In both of today’s parables there is a focus on the power of something very small. A tiny mustard seed can produce a large shrub in which birds can make their nest. A tiny piece of leaven when mixed in with three measures of flower can produce enough bread, it has been estimated, to feed a hundred people. Jesus may have been saying to his disciples that his own ministry might seem very small and limited. Galilee was a tiny region of the vast Roman Empire. Jesus had access to only a relatively small proportion of the people of Galilee itself. Even among those he had access to, he was already beginning to encounter opposition. Such beginnings could seem very unpromising. Yet, Jesus assures his disciples that such small beginnings will bring forth something wonderful that will leave huge numbers blessed, as we can all vouch for. The two parables also speak to our own small efforts to do what is right and good. Jesus is reminding us that if we allow the Lord to work through us in even the smallest of ways, we will be surprised at the great good that will come from such small beginnings. And/Or (v) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time In both parables in today’s gospel reading, Jesus draws a contrast between the tiny beginnings and the large scale of the final result. The mustard seed is the smallest of the seeds but within a year it has grown into a shrub large enough to provide a place for birds to nest. A tiny piece of yeast can leaven a huge amount of flour, three measures, enough to feed a hundred people. The yeast is not only tiny but it is powerful. It goes about its work silently and unobtrusively until it produces a result out of proportion to its size. The same could be said of the ministry of Jesus. He goes about his work as someone who is humble and gentle of heart, quietly and unobtrusively, and, yet, the final outcome of his work will be out of proportion to those humble beginnings. The same can be true of our own lives. The good work we do, quietly and unobtrusively, can bear fruit in a way that will surprise us. The Lord can work powerfully through our good efforts, even though they may seem of little significance to us. There is some good we can all do, no matter how small, that no one else can do, and that can make a difference for the better in the lives of others. Saint John Henry Newman wrote, ‘God hascreated me to do himsome definite service. Hehascommittedsomework to me which Hehasnot committed to another’. Regardless of where we are on our life’s journey, the Lord can work powerfully through even the smallest service we render to one another. And/Or (vi) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time This morning we celebrate the first holy communion of Adam. We are all delighted to share this special day with him. We had the first holy communion of Harriet on Saturday and I mentioned then that I made my own first holy communion in Saint Peter’s Church, Phibsboro, because I went to St. Peter’s National School which is very close to that lovely church. The first reading today is the reading we would usually have for the First Holy Communion Mass. It is the earliest account of the last supper that has come down to us, from Saint Paul. At that supper, Jesus gave himself, his body and blood, under the form of bread and wine, to his disciples. On the night before he died, he gave them the most precious gift he could give them, the gift of himself. At that supper, Jesus also told his disciples to ‘do this in memory of me’. In every generation, his disciples were to repeat what Jesus said and did at the last supper, so that he could continue to give himself to his followers as Bread of Life. This morning, for the first time, Jesus is giving himself to Adam as Bread of Life. Just as parents brought their children to Jesus, according to the gospels, Adam’s parents and grandparents have been bringing Adam to Jesus in various ways since she was born. The first significant moment when they brought her to Jesus was on the day of his baptism. When they taught him to pray, they were bringing her to Jesus. In the language of today’s gospel reading, they have been sowing the mustard seed of the faith in his life. That seed has been growing in his young life and will continue to grow. Because, Adam has been brought to Jesus in various ways, Jesus was been meeting with him, blessing him with his presence. This morning, Jesus is meeting with Adam in a very special way, and blessing him in a way he has never blessed him before. He is coming to Adam in a very personal way as the Bread of Life. He is saying to Adam what he said to his disciples at the last supper, ‘Take and eat’. The Lord wants to come close to Adam, so that Adam can come close to him. His relationship, his friendship, with Jesus will deepen because of what is happening today. Adam’s first holy communion reminds us of how precious the gift of the Eucharist is for all of us. We have all received the Lord in Holy Communion many times, but we need to treasure each time we receive Jesus as the Bread of Life, as if it was our first time. Adam, this morning, you are helping us to appreciate this great gift of the Eucharist, the gift of Jesus, the Bread of Life, that we have all been given. On this special day in your life, we will be praying for you in a special way.29th July >> Fr. Martin's Reflection on Toda's Mass Readings for Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus (Inc. John 11:19-27) ‘I am the resurrection and the life’.
Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus
Reflections (7)
Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reflections (6)
Fr. Martin Hogan.
See Also
27th July >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Saturday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 13:24-30): ‘Let them both grow till the harvest’.30th July >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Tuesday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 13:36-43): ‘The virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father’.26th July >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for:Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests
