Thursday – Feast of St. Martha, Mary and Lazarus    (revisited)

Gospel – John 11:19-27, Luke 10:38-42

Family Matters

The Family!

We celebrate today the Feast of Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus.  And we actually have 2 options for the Gospel reading.  One is from Luke where Jesus visits the town of Bethany and comes to dinner at Martha’s home.  Mary spends her time sitting and listening to Jesus while Martha spends all her time cooking and serving the meal.  She then complains bitterly about Mary not helping her out with the chores.

The second Gospel is from John and tells of Jesus’ other visit after the death of Lazarus.  Martha, hearing that Jesus is on His way, doesn’t wait for him to enter the house but rushes out to greet Him on the road.  She unloads her grief and a bit of anger at Him, complaining that, if He had been there earlier, Lazarus would not have died.  And, in the end, she also professes her faith in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life.

Consider this – the emotions that Martha shares with Jesus are not the sort of emotions you share with just anyone.  They are the deep feelings we share only with our family, our siblings and our parents.  The upset, the anger, the joy, the grief – these are all deeply felt gut-wrenching emotions that, in moments of crisis, we share with those we love because we feel safe with them.  We trust them; we love them. 

But there are people missing from these stories – the parents!  Nowhere do we hear anything about Mary and Martha and Lazarus’ parents.  And yet we actually do!  For these 2 sisters to share such heartfelt emotions with Jesus speaks of children whose parents comforted them in times of distress, encouraged them in times of uncertainty, cared for them in times of loneliness, taught them in times of need, and loved them always.

They must have been parents like my parents (in-law) who today celebrate their 71st wedding anniversary – Bob and Shirley Houren.  Parents who love and teach and guide and counsel!  Parents who provide an example of patience (especially with their son-in-law’s sense of humor) and forgiveness!  Parents who raise their children by their words and their example and especially their love!

Parents like God the Father who knows our struggles and our successes, our highs and our lows, our failings and our recovery.  Parents who are always there for us now and in the Kingdom of Heaven!

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