Friends, Hosts, and Disciples!

Monday, July 29, 2024

Feast of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Jer 13:1-11; Jn 11:19-27/Lk 10:38-42

Today’s feast celebrates the sibling saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, who played a significant role in the life of the Lord. 

The unique form of discipleship they all practiced makes them models of our faith. 

We can draw three important lessons from their exemplary lives. 

1.Martha, Mary, and Lazarus teach us the importance of being friends with the Lord. Friendship is a higher form of love that we often maintain with people outside of our immediate family circle. As friends, we relate with rights and duties. As friends of the Lord, the sibling saints lived out a wonderful form of spirituality. It is only out of such friendship that Martha could request Jesus to send Mary for her help, and in turn, Jesus could instruct her on a set of new priorities. It is this friendship that makes Jesus stop at Bethany to refresh himself in their care and hospitality. 

2. Both Martha and Mary are examples of hospitality. However, the form of each practice is different from the other. Though Martha cannot be mistaken for her care for Jesus, only Mary feels that Jesus is a guest by listening to him and sharing his views. While instructing Martha on the new priorities, Jesus wants Martha to understand her role as a good host. Unfortunately, Martha’s willingness to care for Jesus confines her to the kitchen. As a result, Jesus, the guest, is ignored. Martha lets Jesus feel that she misses out on the pleasure of being a host and of enjoying her guest. But Mary engages her guest by listening to him and resonating with him. 

3. The sibling saints lived out a superior quality of faith in Jesus. At the death of Lazarus, Martha declares her faith in the resurrection. In a more profound way, she confesses her faith in Jesus, saying, ‘I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.’ If Martha confessed her faith in words, Lazarus expressed it in action. While Lazarus was in the tomb, he promptly obeyed the command of the one who conquered death. Martha’s confession of faith and the obedience of Lazarus reveal their conviction in Jesus, who said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (Jn 11:25-26). 

Through their exemplary lives, the sibling saints show what it means to be the friends, hosts, and disciples of the Lord. 

Let the sibling saints inspire us to live out the graces that they perfected as disciples of Christ!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar