Homily: July 29, 2024, Feast of Martha, Mary and Lazarus.

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 “Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother Lazarus, who had died.”

Martha, Mary and Lazarus — loving brother and sisters to each other, and close friends of Jesus during His earthly life. We do not know how He became friends with them, nor what happened to Lazarus after he was raised from death. Common tradition holds that he and his sisters moved out of Bethany after Jesus’s ascension to go out and preach the Gospel. Lazarus was said to have become a bishop and thereafter, died again either from natural causes or from martyrdom.

No one knows for sure what exactly happened to Lazarus, Mary and Martha after that, but we know enough to be certain that Jesus loved them and taught them about eternal life and the kingdom of God. They too loved Jesus and were faithful to His teachings.

Each of the three of them were different, in personality and preferences, strengths and weaknesses. The levels of their spirituality were also different, yet Jesus loved them as they were. It is simply beautiful to see the special friendship between them and Jesus. How I too wish to have such an intimate and loving friendship with our Lord.

We are also different from one another: our life stories, our past, our dreams and desires, our sins, our faithfulness, our successes, our failures — but we all have one thing in common: that Jesus loves us as we are.

However, because we are all different, each a unique love design, Jesus too loves us specially and personally. There is no difference in how much he loves all of us, but He loves each of us in a different way, according to our needs and our uniqueness.

Martha, Mary and Lazarus very likely have different charisms in doing their mission for Christ, supporting and helping each other and the community in their different strengths, filling each other’s gaps.

Thus, we too are called to the same mission of Christ but serving and supporting in different ways according to our charisms and strengths, gifted by God.

Let us look to these three saints today, to ask their intercessions for us to be loving brothers and sisters to one another, to work together in mission for Christ, and to keep an intimate and special friendship with Jesus like they did.

Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus of Bethany, pray for us! Amen.


Comments

  1. Melanie29 July 2024 at 13:38

    Thank you for this important reminder that our uniqueness is God-given and that there is space for us to follow those understandings of how we can serve through what He has given to us in our charisms and strengths. "Thus, we too are called to the same mission of Christ but serving and supporting in different ways according to our charisms and strengths, gifted by God.".

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