Martha was an ordinary woman who welcomed Jesus as He passed through her village (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus rebuked her for complaining that her sister, Mary, should be helping her and not sitting around listening to Him. We can imagine her embarrassment and frustration.
Yet, in today’s Gospel reading from St. John, we see Martha coming out to meet Jesus who heard about the death of her brother, Lazarus. Perhaps Martha was trying again to be hospitable or polite as she vainly tries to hide her disappointment and frustration that Jesus may have saved her brother if He had come earlier. We can imagine Martha trying to suppress her feelings of “masamang loob” or ill will as Jesus rebuked her once again when He said He is the resurrection and the life.
But Martha brushes whatever bad feelings she has and answers Jesus that she believes He is the Messiah. St. Martha, at that moment, despite all her difficulties and bad feelings, decided to profess and practice her true undying faith in Jesus.
There are times we try so hard to be good servants of Christ. Some of us try to eke out time after work to attend a daily Mass to worship Jesus. Some of us sacrifice money or resources to donate to the poor in our attempt to follow Jesus’ example. Some of us try very hard as parents to teach our children what Christ preached to his disciples.
It can be tiring and frustrating to the extent that perhaps there are times we find ourselves complaining. It’s during these times we forget the bottom line of Jesus’ teachings which is: as Christians the most important thing is to remember that Jesus is our Savior and that what we should sustain most, is our faith in Him.
