29th July, 2013 - Remembering St. Martha
Let us begin with an interesting fact that today's feast is a fruit of a mistake... a mistaken identity in history which equated Mary Magdalene with Mary, the sister of Martha. If you remember exactly a week ago (on 22nd) we celebrated the feast of Mary of Magdala, calculating a week from there, in history they wanted to celebrate the alleged sister of Mary, that is Martha!?! Though a mistake, a happy mistake and we should be happy to celebrate today the feast of this person, who was all preoccupied to express her love for Jesus Christ in every way that she possibly could. Another interesting fact is that today, the Church gives us a choice in the Gospel - either from John or from Luke. The text from Luke we reflected upon just a week ago on the 16th Sunday. So let us turn our attention to the Gospel from St. John, the scene of Jesus' arrival after three days of Lazarus' death. Thanks to John, he redeems the image of Martha as a workaholic and helps us identify in her a person who had a deep understanding of who Jesus was. The affirmations that Martha comes out with shows how practical her faith in Christ was; that she set out and ran towards Jesus indicates the eagerness she had to meet him; and the openness she had towards the Lord and the Lord's power over any circumstance shows how deep her faith was. An active love for God and a unwavering faith in the Lord - these are the two lessons that Martha teaches us. How relevant they are for the world of today, which is characterised by godless spirituality, inhuman development and unethical rationality! However, on a practical note, it is a good day to express our gratitude and felicitate the home-makers (the so-called house-wives!!!) who make our lives so pleasant!