Memorial of Martha. She welcomed the Lord at home Read more
Memorial of Martha. She welcomed the Lord at home
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 10, 38-42
In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking.
Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.'
But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha,' he said, 'you worry and fret about so many things,
and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the Church remembers Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus. With this memorial, we understand the force of the Gospel, which leads to a change of heart and of life. Martha, in fact, after having welcomed Jesus in her house, lets herself be “consumed by her service,” which she deems most important. This “service,” this conviction of hers, makes her so busy that she does not even become aware of the Master’s presence. Such concentration on her convictions not only keeps her far from hearing Jesus, but also pushes her to reproach him because he is oblivious of what she is doing. In short, she wanted the guest to pay attention to her and not vice-versa, thus showing what was at the centre of her concerns: not Jesus, but herself. In the end she has servant attitude, claiming recognition for herself as one who does not feel considered and she is simply self-centred and does not want Mary to be friend. Probably she thinks that not doing anything for the guest is wrong, that Jesus is like the people of the world who impose themselves and want to be served. Truly she was getting too agitated, even if her intention was to provide a good welcome. In truth, she was losing that which was essential. Each time we concentrate on ourselves and on our affairs, we flee from hearing the Lord; how many times does our activity mean we do not have the time to listen or to read the Word of God! The result is that we no longer have any understanding of our own doing or even living. In brief, priorities are lost: everything is important and so nothing is. The best part is what no one can take away: the link with him. Mary, on the other hand, has understood that which counts most in life: she has placed herself before the Teacher and, attentively, listens to his words. It is from hearing the Gospel that our life, our thinking, and our work must flow. Martha later learns the lesson Jesus taught her, and continuing to receive him in her house, opens her heart to him. When Jesus drew near to visit the tomb of Lazarus, now dead, it was she who was the first to become aware that the Master was there and to run to meet him. She had learned to run to the Teacher who loved her, her sister, and Lazarus, as no other did. Today, he asks us too not to let ourselves be wrapped up in our cares, but to go outside our house and run towards that Master who can save us from death.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
