God's Message For You Today - July 29

Memorial of Saint Martha

Reading 1

Jer 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.

Ps 146:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab

Responsorial Psalm

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.

Jn 11:19-27 or Lk 10:38-42

Gospel

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."

or

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."

Comment: Fr. Antoni CAROL i Hostench (Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain)

You worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed

Today, we, —no matter how busy we may be, at times, by so many things— must also listen to our Lord reminding us that «only one thing is needed» (Lk 10:42): esteem and saintliness. They should be our aim, the horizon we must never lose sight of amidst our daily chores.

Because we shall be “busy” if we follow our Creator’s plan: «’Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it’» (Gen 1:28). The earth! the world!: this is our meeting point with the Lord. «My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one» (Jn 17:15). Yes, the world is an “altar” for us and for our donation to God and to the others.

We belong in this world, but that does not mean we have to be worldly. On the contrary, we are called to become —in a beautiful expression of His Holiness John Paul II— “Priests of Creation!” “priests” of our world, of a world we passionately love.

Here is the question: world and saintliness; our daily chores and the one and only thing we truly need. They are not two opposed realities: and we have to try to make both coincide. And this coincidence must be carried out —in the first place and basically— in our own heart, where heaven and earth can be reunited. Because in the human heart is where the dialogue between Creator and creature takes place.

Therefore, prayer is necessary. «Ours is a time of continual movement which often leads to restlessness, with the risk of “doing for the sake of doing”. We must resist this temptation by trying “to be” before trying "to do". In this regard we should recall how Jesus reproved Martha: ‘You are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful’ (Lk 10:41-42)» (John Paul II).

There is no opposition between “to be” and “to do”, but there is indeed a priority order of precedence: «Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her» (Lk 10,42).