GENUINE FAITH IN JESUS: THE KEY TO ENLIGHTENMENT AND MIRACLES

HOMILY, WEDNESDAY, 17^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

ST MARTHA [MEMORIAL]

[Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, lived in Bethany and offered Jesus her warm hospitality on several occasions. In John’s Gospel she is the one who utters the highest profession of faith in Jesus, the resurrection and the Life [John 11]

Jer 15:10.16-21, John 11:19-27

Martha was a woman of faith who invites us today to believe firmly in the words of Jesus. Oftentimes, we are easily chickened out at the face of troubles. But Jesus always assures us that with him, there is nothing like hopelessness. We are the ones who suffer terribly in the midst of our life situations when we lack the proper understanding of God’s plans and are ignorant of his power to save.

The house of Martha was a home of welcome, where Jesus, on several occasions had enjoyed hospitality. In this family, Jesus was not treated just as an influential public figure, nor was he taken simply to be a mere miracle worker. He was regarded as the Lord, who can easily and at will hold back the hands of the clock of sorrow. Martha exclaimed,

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

In her limited understanding of Jesus, she still believed that Jesus could raise her brother from the dead. Her trust in Jesus and believed in the resurrection of the dead merited her the privilege of gaining more complete knowledge of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. She would later receive the favour of gaining her brother back to life.

“I am the resurrection and the life, and whoever lives and believes in shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.”

Like Martha, let us give Jesus a prime of place in our lives. Let us acknowledge him for who and what he is. We are invited to believe in his power of resurrection.

Jesus interacts with us daily in our brothers and sisters. Let us make ourselves agents of hospitality to those we meet. Let us keep an open door of welcome to those who carry the message of the Gospel of Christ. We must not look down on anybody.

PRAYER

Dear Lord, my Alpha and Omega. You are the God of the living who would never suffer your suffer know decay. Speak your life into me, that whatever is dead in my life may rise to life. Thy kingdom come.