† Saint Quote: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. St. Martha (John 11: 21-22) Today's Meditation“My great God, you know all that is in the universe, because you yourself have made it. It is the very work of your hands. You are omniscient, because you are omnicreative. You know each part, however minute, as perfectly as you know the whole. You know mind as perfectly as you know matter. You know the thoughts and purposes of every soul as perfectly as if there were no other soul in the whole of your creation. You know me through and through; all my present, past, and future are before you as one whole. You see all those delicate and evanescent motions of my thought which altogether escape myself. You can trace every act, whether deed or thought, to its origin and can follow it into its whole growth and consequences. You know how it will be with me at the end; you have before you that hour when I shall come to you to be judged. How awful is the prospect of finding myself in the presence of my judge! Yet, O Lord, I would not that you should not know me. It is my greatest stay to know that you read my heart. Oh, give me more of that openhearted sincerity which I have desired. Keep me ever from being afraid of your eye, from the inward consciousness that I am not honestly trying to please you. Teach me to love you more, and then I shall be at peace, without any fear of you at all.”
—St. John Henry Newman, p.150 Daily VerseNow Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Laz′arus...[Jesus] cried with a loud voice, 'Laz′arus, come out.' The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.' John 11:5 &43-44
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EWTN Daily Saint
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Sts. Martha, Mary and LazarusPatron Saint of: Homemakers, hospitality workers, and the home
Feast Day: July 29 St. Martha (1st c.) was a pious Jewish woman from Bethany near Jerusalem. She was a close friend of Jesus during his earthly ministry, as was her brother, St. Lazarus, and her sister, St. Mary of Bethany (St. Mary Magdalene – separate feast day on July 22nd).* The Gospels tell us that “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary and Lazarus.” Martha would serve the Lord faithfully when he was a guest in her home, once busying herself so much with her work that she neglected to spend time enjoying his presence, for which she earned a gentle rebuke from Our Lord. Martha had great faith in Christ, especially evidenced in her belief that he could raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. In the Gospels we read that St. Martha testified that Jesus was the Son of God even before his Passion and Resurrection. According to tradition, after the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, St. Martha gathered a group of women together to live, pray, and do penance in common, one of the early Christian houses of consecrated women. St. Martha is the patron of servers, maids, butlers, servants, single laywomen, homemakers, housewives, and cooks. Together, these siblings share a feast day on July 29th.
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Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and LazarusLectionary: 403/607 Reading 1Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21 Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth!
a man of strife and contention to all the land!
I neither borrow nor lend,
yet all curse me.
When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart,
Because I bore your name,
O LORD, God of hosts.
I did not sit celebrating
in the circle of merrymakers;
Under the weight of your hand I sat alone
because you filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain continuous,
my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
You have indeed become for me a treacherous brook,
whose waters do not abide!
Thus the LORD answered me:
If you repent, so that I restore you,
in my presence you shall stand;
If you bring forth the precious without the vile,
you shall be my mouthpiece.
Then it shall be they who turn to you,
and you shall not turn to them;
And I will make you toward this people
a solid wall of brass.
Though they fight against you,
they shall not prevail,
For I am with you,
to deliver and rescue you, says the LORD.
I will free you from the hand of the wicked,
and rescue you from the grasp of the violent. Responsorial PsalmPsalm 59:2-3, 4, 10-11, 17, 18 R. (17d) God is my refuge on the day of distress.
Rescue me from my enemies, O my God;
from my adversaries defend me.
Rescue me from evildoers;
from bloodthirsty men save me.
R. God is my refuge on the day of distress.
For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
mighty men come together against me,
Not for any offense or sin of mine, O LORD.
R. God is my refuge on the day of distress.
O my strength! for you I watch;
for you, O God, are my stronghold,
As for my God, may his mercy go before me;
may he show me the fall of my foes.
R. God is my refuge on the day of distress.
But I will sing of your strength
and revel at dawn in your mercy;
You have been my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of distress.
R. God is my refuge on the day of distress.
O my strength! your praise will I sing;
for you, O God, are my stronghold,
my merciful God!
R. God is my refuge on the day of distress. AlleluiaJohn 8:12 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. GospelJohn 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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Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ!
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From Word Among Us WAU.org
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Daily Meditation: John 11:19-27 Yes, Lord. I have come to believe. (John 11:27) “God made us a family. We need one another. We love one another. We forgive one another. . . . Together we serve our God. Together we hope for heaven. These are our hopes and ideals. Help us to attain them, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This popular prayer reminds us that each family has a vocation. Even though a family is made up of individuals who can be wildly different from one another, they are called to love and help each other grow in holiness. Moreover, when families combine their individual strengths and weaknesses, they find that they can serve God in a way that is unique to their own family. Today we celebrate one family that served the Lord in its own unique way: Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. This family, made up of clearly different individuals, opened their home and their hearts to Jesus. The Gospels tell us that they faced the same struggles that many of us face: getting along with each other, dealing with the death of a loved one, and struggling to come to belief in the Lord (Luke 10:38-42; John 11:17-19, 32-36). The Gospels also tell us that Jesus loved this family despite their individual weaknesses. Family life is not always picture-perfect, but if everyone tries to come together in faith, despite their differences, each member can grow in love, both for the Lord and for each other. We know that sometimes it is hard to get all family members to work together, but God can take even the most halting effort and bless it. Even if all you do is recite the prayer above, know that you’re off to a good start. Let’s take today’s feast as an opportunity to pray for all families, including our own. May we all take strides to grow closer to each other. May we all take strides to grow closer to the Lord together. And most important, may we all welcome Jesus into our homes and invite him to live with us, just as Martha, Mary, and Lazarus did. “Lord, be with every family, and help them embrace their calling!” Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21
Psalm 59:2-4, 10-11, 17-18
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Reflections with Brother Adrian:
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From today's Holy Gospel: "... 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 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?” .... ”
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From Bishop Barron: "Coming to Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus feels the deepest emotions and begins to weep. This is God entering into the darkness, confusion, and agony of the death of sinners. He doesn’t blithely stand above our situation but rather takes it on and feels it at its deepest level.....” End quote.
From Roberto Juarez: "Let us ask the Lord that our families may resemble the house of Bethany: homes where Christ is always welcome, where service is united to prayer, where faith sustains hope and where love always conquers fear. May Santa Marta teach us to serve generously; may Mary teach us to listen attentively to the Word; and may St Lazarus remind us that Christ is the Lord of life and that, united to him, we are called to rise again in order to live eternally...." end quote.
Have you ever witnessed a resurrection?
When my dad passed away, my best friend, my boss, our central point at work and family, I prayed for a resurrection, because even after death...I held on to a hope, a possibility. It did not come to be. And so we suffered a bitter anguish of a seemingly final farewell.
We did not get a Lazarus story.
We did not receive a miracle that we asked for, or at least, I had been fervently asking for.
Here we are 4 years later, and I find myself trying to do much of what he was doing for family and work...something I never envied of him, as I had witnessed his worries and problems day in and day out, as we shared the same desk for years and years, face to face. Even if I tried to step in and do his duties, he would see to it that I did not step in. Maybe it would have been an easier transition if he would have trained me, to learn from my mistakes in front of him. But now, I'm learning stuff the hard ways. Lots of accidents. Lots of expenses. Lots of slip ups and dealing with people that just becomes mind boggling at times, and I just fight to remain calm amongst the darkness and insanity that it seems to produce...problems that never end.
Have I digressed from the resurrection story of the best friend of our Lord Jesus?
Martha worried. Mary did not. Martha prayed, interceded, and our Lord granted this resurrection, of giving life to Lazarus for another little while, and some people say he was even martyred, died for Christ.
Some tradition also holds that great Saint Joseph also wanted to die for Christ, and did not wish to see His love die on a cross.
A holy offering begins.
There are two mysteries in the rosaries that I say out loud in their introduction: "Christ gives Himself to us, now let us give ourselves to Him".
At the Nativity, the birth of our Lord.
And, at the Crucifixion. In the nativity scene, our Lord is mostly seen wrapped in a white cloth, like a gift from Heaven.
On the true crucifixion, He is stripped naked, the gift is opened up for the world to receive...if we so desire this gift of Christ.
What gift? Suffering and death? No.
We all know what the crucifixion means now...death is defeated, Hope is alive, because Christ is alive.
He said "WHOEVER BELIEVES in ME even though they die, they will NEVER die".
That is a bold promise coming from the mouth of our Hope, and the King of the Universe.
And this King is Truth. This truth is being hunted to be silenced every day. So that you may not pray. That you may not gather to pray. That you may give up your faith. I see it so often people ask me "shall we just cancel our ministry meeting". Why? Because, it is easier to drop the cross than to carry it.
When will your life stop focusing on self?
When will your life center be Christ, true hope?
When will you stop missing church stuff to spend stuff on yourself? And your loved ones are an extension of yourself?
Christ cried for Lazarus. He loved Him. When people saw the tears of Christ, they were perplexed and moved with wonder...saying "see how He loved him".
And because of His love...He rises him from the dead.
Do you want to be loved by Christ?
People say funny things like "opposites attract". But there are statistics that say that people bond and love each other often when they look like each other, almost like in love with themselves! What if Christ desires that you look like him? Not physically, but spiritually, self giving...always merciful, always graceful....always truthful....always one in the light of God!!!
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WOW! Random Bible Verse 1
1 John 2:15–17 [1 John 2]
Do Not Love the World " Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life1—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
Word of the Lord!
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God Bless You! Peace
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