Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

READINGS

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.”

REFLECTION

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.”

Holiness Ordering Personal Experience - HOPE! (Eucharitic Hope by Fr. Michael J. Truong Luan, C.Ss.R.) Martha is grieving her brother's death. She knows that Jesus would have prayed over her brother and healed him if he had been there when Lazarus was sick.

Martha, Mary and Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. They had witnessed Jesus curing the sick. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, "the Christ, the Son of God."(John 19:11-27) Martha confirms that she believes that Jesus is the Son of God, but does she understand that He has power over death?

As Catholic Christians we believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.

The New Testament gives us witness to Jesus' death, Resurrection, Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. We say the Creed in every Mass confirming our belief in those truths. The Creed is a prayer and we exercise our virtue of Hope when we pray it. When we say the Creed we are stating that we expect the "resurrection of the body and life everlasting."

Hope is a theological virtue, which means that it is given to us by God. As PAPA members, we exercise our virtue of Hope by praying for Priests to be holy. Join us in praying our PAPA Prayer for Priests, and let us Hope and make things happen.

Resources

“Eucharistic Hope” by Fr. Michael J. Truong Luan, C. Ss. R.

“Eucharistic Hope Conferrence” teachings by

Fr. Michael J. Truong Luan C. Ss. R.