29 July 2022
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
This memorial teaches us about friendship with the Lord. From the famous Martha and Mary story in Luke’s Gospel, we know that this family’s household was a place where Jesus found comfort, rest, a home where he found utmost hospitality (Martha) and rapt attention (Mary). From the verses in John’s Gospel where tears gush out from Christ, we see how much visceral love Jesus had for Lazarus, how dearly their friendship held them together, so much so that Mary expected Jesus to arrive far earlier than what he did. Mary expects Christ’s presence, and Jesus rewards what she demands as a friend. Her exchange with Jesus models how Christians should speak to him in prayer: as a friend does to another friend.
Friendships are essential to the Christian life because they are the arena in which Jesus moves in and out with ease. Unsurprisingly, when Matteo Ricci authored a book attempting to find common ground with a Chinese audience unfamiliar with Christianity, he chose to write a book of maxims about friendship. Confucian wisdom about the worth of great friends thus became the starting point to a friendship with Christ.
By becoming a friend of God, we know Jesus to be the Resurrection and the Life. When failing to notice God in our own lives, we can be just as nervous when we wonder where he is in the lives of our loved ones. Mary of Bethany can show us how to implore Jesus for our friends and family, confident that the One who is the Resurrection and the Life will work for them as he has for us.