Wednesday – Feast of St. Martha, Mary and Lazarus   

Gospel – John11:19-27, Luke 10:38-42

Meeting Jesus

Boat Chapel, Magdala

We witnessed a little fender bender in the Walmart parking lot a few days ago.  One SUV backed up into another one.  The 2 women immediately got out of their cars and moved toward each other.  If you’re from Chicago, you know what will happen next.  They would immediately start yelling and blaming the other.  Then it would get physical, slapping and hitting.  A crowd would form and people would be recording the event on their phones and eventually post it online!  Eventually the police are called and insurance companies are contacted! 

But that’s not what happened, not at all!  They got out of their cars and, instead of immediately checking for any damage to their vehicles, they checked on each other.  Are you ok?  I’m ok; are you?  And then they embraced each other in a big heartfelt hug.  No yelling!  No search for insurance forms.  No yelling! No reaching for the phone to take pics and video!  No calling the cops! 

Wow!  Instead of a confrontation, they ran to meet each other and check on their wellbeing! Compassion and not combat!  How refreshing!

We read in today’s Gospel the familiar story of Jesus coming to visit Mary and Martha after the death of Lazarus!  A meeting full of love and compassion, of heart-wrenching grief and sadness.  And what resonates with me the most is one simple line - Martha went out to meet Him! 

Simple question today!  We all have moments of sadness and grief, of despair and anger!  What do we do?  Do we just sit and mope, waiting for someone to notice and come to us?  Do we sit and wait for a sign from above, for Jesus to come to us??  Or do we run to meet Him, like Martha??

 

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