Gospel: John 11:19-27
Many of
the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother
[Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to
meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask
of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in
the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus
told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if
he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do
you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you
are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
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Reflection:
What
compelled Martha to meet Jesus while HE was on HIS way to their house? It was
her faith.
Martha
was in grief because of the death of her brother Lazarus. But when she heard
that Jesus was going to their house to comfort them. Her grief was immediately
replaced by hope for Martha has deep faith in Jesus and being their close
friend Martha also knew Jesus very well.
What do
we do when we are sorrowful and in distress? Don’t we also run to Jesus? Of
course we also run to Jesus, the energy that compels us to go to HIM is fueled
by our deep faith, hope and friendship with Jesus. We are very blessed because
we have this deep relationship with Jesus for we know where to go when we are
in distress with the many trials of this world.
But how
about those who do not know Jesus deeply or those who do not know Jesus? Where
will they go when they encounter trials? They may never go to Jesus, instead
they may wallow in self-pity, they may drown themselves with their vices for
temporal alleviation of their distress.
This is
where we must come-in and illuminate those who do not know Jesus with HIS
light. We must have the courage to share Jesus and our faith so that those who
are in distress will now go to Jesus for hope and salvation.
Our faith
in Jesus must not be an exclusive faith that is only limited to ourselves. It
must always be an inclusive faith so that others too may feel the love,
healing, hope and friendship of Jesus.
Is your
faith in Jesus an exclusive or inclusive faith? – Marino J. Dasmarinas