Memorial of Saint Martha
Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. Martha[i]
Readings for the Memorial of St. Martha[ii]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
(Note: on this memorial, the Gospel of the memorial is proper.)
Readings and Commentary:[iii]
Reading 1: Jeremiah 18:1-6
This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
Rise up, be off to the potter’s house;
there I will give you my message.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was,
working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making
turned out badly in his hand,
he tried again,
making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.
Then the word of the Lord came to me:
Can I not do to you, house of Israel,
as this potter has done? says the Lord.
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jer 18:1-6
The oracle of Jeremiah has been dwelling on the source of life in God and the importance of repentance. In the story of the visit to the Potter God symbolically demonstrates the absolute power of God to reshape civilization (to destroy and remake). This image recalls the creation of mankind from the clay of the ground in Genesis 2:7 and is used in other prophetic works of the Old Testament (Isaiah 45:9) and New Testament (Romans 9:20-23 in which it appears St. Paul may be reflecting on this very passage).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 146:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab
R. (5a) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul;
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Put not your trust in princes,
in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.
When his spirit departs he returns to his earth;
on that day his plans perish.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord, his God.
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 146:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab
Psalm 146 is from the wisdom tradition. Here we are given a vision of God’s salvation. His saving power (envisioned in the oracle of Isaiah and fulfilled in Jesus the Christ) lifts up the poor and down trodden and heals those afflicted with every sort of malady.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 11:19-27
Within the story or the death and resurrection of Lazarus we see the very human emotions of Jesus they range from confidence in his relationship with the Father at the end of the story to the all too human grief and fear as he expresses his concern at what this revelatory event has cost his close friends, Martha and Mary, as they see their brother die. The encounter describes how Martha’s fear and remorse change to faith as she makes her profession of faith (“I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God”) This exchange of fear for faith seen in the witnesses is the same conversion the Gospel attempts to initiate in the Christian faithful in response to these events.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OR
Second Option: Luke 10:38-42
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 10:38-42
The story of Jesus’ meeting with Martha and Mary conveys the importance of listening to the teachings of the Lord (faith). While in some early texts the Lord tells Martha there is “need for only a few things” or of one, the message is clear, Mary, in assuming the role of disciple (listening at the master’s feet) has chosen the correct or better role. Martha, concerning herself with the requirements of hospitality (old law) has chosen the lesser.
“Mystically (St. Gregory the Great, Moralia 2, 6): the two women signify two dimensions of the spiritual life. Martha signifies the active life as she busily labors to honor Christ through her work. Mary exemplifies the contemplative life as she sits attentively to listen and learn from Christ. While both activities are essential to Christian living, the latter is greater than the former. For in heaven the active life terminates, while the contemplative life reaches its perfection.”[iv]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The memorial of St. Martha represents a very special day in the life of almost all faith communities. It is special because we all know “Martha”. It is Martha who is in the kitchen at parish functions, making sure the food is placed before the people, making sure the decorations are just right, washing dishes when we leave to go home. It is Martha who makes sure there are flowers in the Sanctuary and the altar has a clean cloth. It is Martha who does all those thankless jobs so that we can enjoy fellowship and worship without a care for all of the details and mundane tasks so necessary for our gatherings to be times of calm and reflection.
We see Martha in sacred scripture in something of a different role. Her brother Lazarus has died and like many of us her thoughts at the time of his death went to God asking “Why have you taken him from me?” When she hears that her brother’s great friend, Jesus, is coming she rushes out to meet him. Her greeting reflects her grief as she virtually accuses the Lord of allowing her brother to die ““Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
In almost the same breath she catches herself and continues hopefully; “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Her faith overrules her heartfelt grief and she makes the ultimate profession – that Jesus, because he is the Messiah, has power, even over death.
The Marthas in our lives have that same strength of faith. It is they who feel the grief of loss and it is they who remind us that God can accomplish anything. The Lord is, as Jeremiah said in his visit to the Potter, able to make and remake all things by his will. It is this faith we pray for on the Feast of St. Martha. We ask for her prayers that we may do what needs to be done, but always with supreme faith in God’s mercy and love.
Pax
[i] The picture is “Christ in the House of Mary and Martha” Vincenzo Campi, c. 1580
[ii] ALTRE (Reading and Psalm only)
[iii] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[iv] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp. 129
Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. Martha[i]
Readings for the Memorial of St. Martha[ii]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
(Note: on this memorial, the Gospel of the memorial is proper.)
Readings and Commentary:[iii]
Reading 1: Jeremiah 18:1-6
This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
Rise up, be off to the potter’s house;
there I will give you my message.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was,
working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making
turned out badly in his hand,
he tried again,
making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.
Then the word of the Lord came to me:
Can I not do to you, house of Israel,
as this potter has done? says the Lord.
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jer 18:1-6
The oracle of Jeremiah has been dwelling on the source of life in God and the importance of repentance. In the story of the visit to the Potter God symbolically demonstrates the absolute power of God to reshape civilization (to destroy and remake). This image recalls the creation of mankind from the clay of the ground in Genesis 2:7 and is used in other prophetic works of the Old Testament (Isaiah 45:9) and New Testament (Romans 9:20-23 in which it appears St. Paul may be reflecting on this very passage).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 146:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab
R. (5a) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul;
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Put not your trust in princes,
in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.
When his spirit departs he returns to his earth;
on that day his plans perish.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord, his God.
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 146:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab
Psalm 146 is from the wisdom tradition. Here we are given a vision of God’s salvation. His saving power (envisioned in the oracle of Isaiah and fulfilled in Jesus the Christ) lifts up the poor and down trodden and heals those afflicted with every sort of malady.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 11:19-27
Within the story or the death and resurrection of Lazarus we see the very human emotions of Jesus they range from confidence in his relationship with the Father at the end of the story to the all too human grief and fear as he expresses his concern at what this revelatory event has cost his close friends, Martha and Mary, as they see their brother die. The encounter describes how Martha’s fear and remorse change to faith as she makes her profession of faith (“I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God”) This exchange of fear for faith seen in the witnesses is the same conversion the Gospel attempts to initiate in the Christian faithful in response to these events.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OR
Second Option: Luke 10:38-42
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 10:38-42
The story of Jesus’ meeting with Martha and Mary conveys the importance of listening to the teachings of the Lord (faith). While in some early texts the Lord tells Martha there is “need for only a few things” or of one, the message is clear, Mary, in assuming the role of disciple (listening at the master’s feet) has chosen the correct or better role. Martha, concerning herself with the requirements of hospitality (old law) has chosen the lesser.
“Mystically (St. Gregory the Great, Moralia 2, 6): the two women signify two dimensions of the spiritual life. Martha signifies the active life as she busily labors to honor Christ through her work. Mary exemplifies the contemplative life as she sits attentively to listen and learn from Christ. While both activities are essential to Christian living, the latter is greater than the former. For in heaven the active life terminates, while the contemplative life reaches its perfection.”[iv]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The memorial of St. Martha represents a very special day in the life of almost all faith communities. It is special because we all know “Martha”. It is Martha who is in the kitchen at parish functions, making sure the food is placed before the people, making sure the decorations are just right, washing dishes when we leave to go home. It is Martha who makes sure there are flowers in the Sanctuary and the altar has a clean cloth. It is Martha who does all those thankless jobs so that we can enjoy fellowship and worship without a care for all of the details and mundane tasks so necessary for our gatherings to be times of calm and reflection.
We see Martha in sacred scripture in something of a different role. Her brother Lazarus has died and like many of us her thoughts at the time of his death went to God asking “Why have you taken him from me?” When she hears that her brother’s great friend, Jesus, is coming she rushes out to meet him. Her greeting reflects her grief as she virtually accuses the Lord of allowing her brother to die ““Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
In almost the same breath she catches herself and continues hopefully; “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Her faith overrules her heartfelt grief and she makes the ultimate profession – that Jesus, because he is the Messiah, has power, even over death.
The Marthas in our lives have that same strength of faith. It is they who feel the grief of loss and it is they who remind us that God can accomplish anything. The Lord is, as Jeremiah said in his visit to the Potter, able to make and remake all things by his will. It is this faith we pray for on the Feast of St. Martha. We ask for her prayers that we may do what needs to be done, but always with supreme faith in God’s mercy and love.
Pax
[i] The picture is “Christ in the House of Mary and Martha” Vincenzo Campi, c. 1580
[ii] ALTRE (Reading and Psalm only)
[iii] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[iv] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp. 129
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