Today is the feast day of Jesus’ good friends who lived in Bethany, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. In the Gospel John says that Jesus delayed in going to Bethany when he hears the news of Lazarus’ illness. And when he finally arrives, the bystanders make a point of mentioning his friend had already been in the tomb for four days. Why is this even important ?
There was a popular Jewish belief at the time that the soul lingered in the vicinity of the body for three days after death. The person was dead, but the soul was still there. This was just a popular belief, but John wanted to be sure everyone realized that when Jesus arrived, Lazarus was dead as dead could be. Even so, Jesus had the power to bring him back to life. Jesus had the power to pull life out of anything and any situation. He shows us that God is the giver of all life.
Sometimes we try to make our religion too sophisticated and complicated. One of the greatest challenges of the Christian life is to keep our faith simple. Martha today gives us one of the most complete simple statements of faith that we read in the Bible; “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Today just keep it simple when you pray. Let him see what’s in our hearts and just invite him to live in us as our Lord and Savior.
St. Joseph, pray for us !
DeColores, Deacon Doug
