Even Now I Know

Today the Catholic Church celebrates St. Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus. We all know Martha, of “Martha and Mary,” sisters of Lazarus. Usually when we think of Martha, we think of the exchange between her and Jesus when Martha is bustling around working while her sister Mary is sitting at Jesus feet. Martha complains, and Jesus admonishes her that “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” That scene seems to diminish Martha (notwithstanding the fact that Martha took care of necessary tasks and the world could not survive without its Marthas).

What most draws me to Martha, however, is her expression of faith that hear in today’s Gospel from John.

Martha’s beloved brother Lazarus had been ill and Martha had been expecting Jesus to show up to heal him, as he had healed so many others. She is bitterly disappointed and more than a bit upset with Jesus when he finally arrives. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” she accuses.

But she doesn’t stop there, adding, “even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” And when Jesus asks if she believes that he is the resurrection and the life, that anyone who lives and believes in him will never die, Martha affirms, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

This is Martha’s shining moment. She demonstrates enormous faith, even as she is mourning her brother’s death. We don’t know what significance Martha’s affirmation had for Jesus at that moment, but in his humanness, her affirmation surely meant something to Him. It is an affirmation that reveals the glory of God.

In terms of our own lives, the Women’s Bible Commentary frames the question Martha faced this way: “Can I let go of the limits that one places on what is possible in order to embrace the limitless possibilities offered by Jesus?” Can we?

Several years ago, I gave a short post-communion reflection at a retreat house on the feast of St. Martha. You can listen to the podcast of that reflection here:

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Stop, Sit, Listen

Today’s Gospel reading from St. Luke is the well-known passage where Jesus visits the home of Martha and Mary.  While Martha is running around doing chores, Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, listening to him speak.  When Mary complains to Jesus, asking him to instruct Mary to help her, Jesus replies, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Now, doubtless some of Martha’s tasks were quite important and I do not think Jesus meant to imply by his words that we completely lay aside all of our obligations – taking care of our children, putting effort into our jobs, etc. – and sit around all day.

But Jesus’ words to Martha do remind us that sometimes we do need to just put everything aside and to sit and listen to God. To just stop what we are doing and sit at the feet of Jesus. We still need to put dinner on the table….we still need to make sure there are clean clothes for the children to wear…work tasks need to be done. (I don’t know about you, but I haven’t noticed anyone getting those things done for me while I’m sitting in prayer.) But if we are not careful, we can become consumed with worries and anxieties about the tasks of our day-to-day life. We need to give ourselves time with Jesus to grow in our faith and to gain the sustenance we need to be able to perform the rest of our tasks with love and generosity.

I once said to a former spiritual director, “My problem is that I’m Martha and I want to be Mary.” He shook his head back and forth and said, “We are all called to be both Martha and Mary.” The key is to make sure we keep those two in balance.

St. Martha

Today the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Martha, a women of the New Testament for whom I’ve always had a great deal of affection. Doubtless at least part of it is the vision I have of Martha from Luke’s Gospel (one of the two alternative Gospels for today’s Mass), where she complains to Jesus that Mary is not helping her. I see Martha preparing the meal, cleaning up, that is, like I so often am, doing several things at the same time.

What really draws me to Martha, however, is her expression of faith in the other alternate Gospel reading for today – the scene in John’s Gospel when Jesus shows up after Lazarus has died. Martha had been expecting Jesus to show up earlier to heal Lazarus and is bitterly disappointed and more than a bit upset with Jesus when he finally arrives. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” she accuses.

But she doesn’t stop there, adding, “even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” And when Jesus asks if she believes that he is the resurrection and the life, that anyone who lives and believes in him will never die, Martha affirms, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

From where does Martha draw her great faith? In a wonderful selection in Hidden Women of the Gospels, writer Kathy Coffee puts these words in Martha’s mouth:

I don’t know what possessed me to say it. But I suspect that my mouth, which had gotten me into trouble my whole life, had for a stunning second become my glory, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” I affirmed, and I meant every word of it….
I was so outraged at Jesus’ delay that I spewed pure venom when he arrived. ..Folks with better social skills might have welcomed him with, “Thanks for trying,” or even, “Your friend is dead,” but I immediately dumped the guilt trip: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Even though Jesus is used to my outspokenness, the accusation hurt; I would tell by the sadness in his eyes. Still, it didn’t paralyze him; maybe he continued our conversation because he could trust me. I’d just proven that I wouldn’t make the truth. I would look him straight in the eye, without a shred of syrupy politeness. One pressing issue hovered in the air between us: Was he avoiding the tragedy, or coming at it from another angle? Why was he questioning my belief in the afterlife?
“I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”…
So few people understood him; all he wanted was one person to show some inkling.
And I did know who he was. From all the meals we’d eaten together, all the walks we’d taken, all the conversations that stretched late into the night emerged his shining holiness. I couldn’t explain how I knew; I certainly couldn’t tell you what text I’d consulted. But in some quiet, sure place within, I was bedrock certain of his power. So I said it aloud.

In some quiet sure place within, Martha knew exactly who Jesus was and she is the first to proclaim him as the Messiah. She thus gave Jesus affirmation at a time when his heart must have been troubled as he was making his way toward Jerusalem. And so today we honor Martha’s act of faith.

Martha’s Faith Podcast

When I was at St. Ignatius Retreat House in New York last month, I gave a post-communion reflection on July 29, the feast of St. Martha. Now that my daughter (a/k/a technical adviser) is home from her summer travels, we recorded a version of the talk. Although I had planned for the next podcast I produced to be the next in the Embracing Mary series, I decided Mary wouldn’t mind the interruption so that I could share a little about the faith of St. Martha.

The length of this podcast, titled Martha’s Faith, is 7:45. You can stream it from the icon below or can download it here.

Martha’s Faith

Today the Catholic Church celebrates St. Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus. We all know Martha, of “Martha and Mary,” sisters of Lazarus. Usually when we think of Martha, we think of the exchange between her and Jesus when Martha is bustling around working while her sister Mary is sitting at Jesus feet. Martha complains, and Jesus admonishes her that “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” That scene seems to diminish Martha (notwithstanding the fact that Martha took care of necessary tasks and the world could not survive without its Marthas).

Martha gets her moment, however. It occurs when Jesus arrives after the death of Lazarus. Martha chides Jesus for not showing up earlier, telling him that he could have prevented the death of her brother if he had arrived in time. Then she adds that “even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus tells her he is the resurrection and the life and asks if she believes that whoever believes in him will live even if he dies. And Martha, without hesitation, professes her faith: “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

This is Martha’s shining moment. She demonstrates enormous faith, even as she is mourning her brother’s death. We don’t know what significance Martha’s affirmation had for Jesus at that moment, but in his humanness, her affirmation surely meant something to Him. It is an affirmation that reveals the glory of God.

In terms of our own lives, the Women’s Bible Commentary frames the question Martha faced this way: “Can I let go of the limits that one places on what is possible in order to embrace the limitless possibilities offered by Jesus?” Can we?