St. Martha

Martha lived together with her sister Mary and brother Lazarus in Bethany, a town about two miles distant from Jerusalem. Our Lord loved these three very dearly (John 11:5) and often visited their home (Luke 10:38), where Martha, perhaps the elder sister, welcomed him with her usual gracious hospitality and ministered to his needs, as the second of today’s Gospel readings (Luke 10:38–42) narrates. It was, however, at the time of their beloved Lazarus’s death, as the first of today’s Gospel readings (John 11:19–27) tells the story, that Martha made her powerful confession of faith in Jesus, a confession very similar to that made by Peter, when he and Christ were near Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16:16). Our Lord asked Martha whether she believed if he were “the resurrection and the life.” “ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world’ ” (John 11:27). The prayers of the Mass today allude to the service of Christ, a service similar to that which Martha had shown him.