3/19/2024 0 Comments Saints martha mary and lazarusShe also shows forth love in getting up and running to the Lord when He calls and anointing His feet while at supper, demonstrating her undivided heart. Mary represents love - she sits at the Lord’s feet listening to Him, which Jesus proclaimed “the better part,” a great model for contemplative life. Lazarus, represents hope - he was raised from the dead and manifests the Christian expectation of the resurrection and new life. Martha represents faith - while in mourning the death of her brother, through confusion and frustration at Jesus’ delay, she still professes Jesus as the Messiah. These holy friends of Jesus can be seen as personifying the three theological virtues: Mary and Martha lost hope that anything could be done for. Then Lazarus died, and Jesus arrived days later. They knew that Jesus loved Lazarus, and that he had the power to heal him, but Jesus didn’t come right away. Originally only Martha was celebrated on this day, but in 2021 Pope Francis expanded the memorial to include all three of the Saintly siblings. Full of hope, they had sent word to Jesus asking him to come when their brother Lazarus was sick. They are typically pictured in iconography with Martha serving Our Lord’s needs, Mary sitting at His feet, and Lazarus dining with Him. They welcomed Jesus into their home on a different occasions, providing Him with a place of rest in the midst of His active ministry. Jesus speaks to the Church - parents, priests, catechists, all members of the Church - and gives this standing order regarding the souls he has raised to new life: “Untie them and let them go free.Today we celebrate the friends of Jesus, the siblings of Bethany, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Christ raises us, but he has work for the Church to do: Untie those he has raised in baptism, and let them go free. “So Jesus said to them, ‘Untie him and let him go free.’” Notice something important here: Although Jesus raises Lazarus and gives him new life, Jesus also commands the bystanders to untie Lazarus and let him go free. You can skip right to the end of the Bible and see that Jesus wins there, too. “Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands …” Its full force comes over him, and he weeps - so much so that the bystanders say, “See how much he loved him.” In his human heart, Jesus experiences the full force of the loss and the blow that death delivers. Coming upon the scene, Jesus is described as deeply moved, as perturbed, as weeping. And so before raising Lazarus and dispelling grief, Jesus checks the condition of Martha’s faith and elicits an act of faith: “Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe.” Our faith and our soul are more important to God than our bodies and creature comforts. Encountering Martha, Jesus inquires about her faith. Jesus is determined to go and help Lazarus even though he puts himself in great danger in doing so since they are plotting to kill Jesus in Judea. Note, too, how Jesus’ delay enables something even greater to take place. Somehow our waiting is tied to strengthening us and preparing us for something greater. This, of course, is paradoxical, because we expect love to make one rush to the aid of the afflicted. “So when Jesus heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was.” Note that the text says Jesus delayed because he loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. But, if we are faithful, every trial is ultimately for our glory and the glory of God. The Lord permits these trials and difficulties for various reasons. However, on February 2, 2021, Pope Francis expanded this memorial to include Martha’s sister and brother, Mary and Lazarus. Today’s memorial was formerly a memorial only in honor of Saint Martha. Sometimes there are trials in our life, by God’s mysterious design, to bring us to greater things. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. The Gospel opens noting that a close friend of Jesus, Lazarus, is deathly ill. Let’s look at this Gospel in six stages and learn how the Lord acts to save us and raise us to new life.
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