Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
When the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: «Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand. Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish».
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
If you, o Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.
Let Israel wait for the Lord, for with the Lord is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; and he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing”
Fr. Josep RIBOT i Margarit (Tarragona, Spain)Today, as every day, we can learn from the Gospel. Jesus, invited to Martha's home in Bethany, gives us a lesson in humanity: He, who loved people, lets people love Him, for both things are equally important. It would be a serious mistake, with harmful consequences to our sanctity, to refuse God's and others' affection.
Martha or Mary? But..., why oppose those who loved each other so much and loved God too? Jesus loved Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus, and He loves each one of us, too.
On the path of sainthood not any two souls are exactly alike. We all try to love God, but within our own style and personality, without imitating anyone. Our models are Christ and the Mother of God. Do you resent how others treat God? Try to learn from his personal piety.
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me” (Lk 10:40). To serve others, for the love of God, is an honor, not a burden. Do we serve with joy, as the Mother of God did in her visit to her cousin Elisabeth, or at Cana's wedding, or as Jesus did when washing the Apostle's feet at the Last Supper?
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing” (Lk 10:41-42). Let us lose neither our peace nor our good humor. And to accomplish it, let us take good care to see and appreciate God's presence. “Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it… Either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we shall never find Him” (St. Josemaría Escrivá).
“Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:42). God wants us happy. May our Mother in Heaven help us to feel the joy of giving.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“The soul, warmed thanks to contemplation, will live with greater perfection the active life Saint” (Gregory the Great)
“The spirit of prayer gives time back to God, it steps away from the obsession of a life that is always lacking time, it rediscovers the peace of necessary things, and discovers the joy of unexpected gifts. Two good guides for this are the sisters Martha and Mary, they learned from God the harmony of family rhythms” (Francis)
“(…) The home is the first school of Christian life and ‘a school for human enrichment’. Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous - even repeated - forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 1657).
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