MEMORIAL OF STS. MARTHA, MARY, AND LAZARUS - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life. JN 8:12

1 JOHN 4:7-16 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The great touchstone of authentic love is the Cross, there is no other and everyone who aspires to love as You did and do has to meet this criterion. It is not easy and the overarching reason we fail is that we are selfish.

Today, as the Church celebrates the love these three siblings had for You, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, we are reminded that love is everything. Failure to love reveals a rejection of You because as St. John reminds us in this hymn of love in today's first reading, that all love comes from God. He first loved us. He revealed His incomprehensible love for His unworthy, undeserving, and unfaithful people by sending You into the world so we can behold His Face in the flesh and exchange our death for Your life so we could live forever.

Love reaches out. Love makes the first move. Love does not stop to decide whether or not the beloved is worthy of love. Love just loves in season and out of season and whether one feels like loving or not. Love resides in the will and is not dependant on emotions. 

You asked the Father to take the chalice of suffering from You but You added, not My will but Yours be done. The price of Your suffering and death was the redemption of the whole world and You paid it gladly, willingly, and comprehensively.

'this is the love I mean:

not our love for God,
but God’s love for us when he sent his Son
to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.'

The lover loves whether or not the beloved reciprocates that love. Perfect love is given freely, without coercion. This love is possible only when one has experienced Your unconditional love for us. While we were yet sinners, You died for us and we are invited to die to ourselves in our love for our neighbor. You showed us how and we, as Your disciples, must do likewise.

God is love
and anyone who lives in love lives in God,
and God lives in him.

PSALM 34:2-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

At every Holy Communion, we taste and see how good You are I am sorry for all the times when I took this heavenly food for granted. Grant me the gift of authentic humility for only those who are meek will inherit the earth.

Thank You for always hearing and answering all my prayers even when the answer was not quite what I expected or desired. This I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was always for my good. 

I am always in the company of the angels and saints for I have their help in times of distress. The angels provide protection, the saints intercede for me when I implore their help. Thank You, Beloved, that together with all the saints in heaven we are one body in You.

I have all I shall ever need while I live and I have the hope of heaven when I die. Who could ask for more than this?

JOHN 11:19-27 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You always send angels to comfort us when we are grieving. Martha and Mary were heartbroken at the loss of their brother. They send for You while he was ill and they hoped You would come to visit Your friend Lazarus and heal him. But oftentimes what we desire and what God wills are two different things.

You came only three days after his death. When news of Your arrival reached the two sisters, Martha came in haste to You and said, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’

You assured her that all would be well. Her brother would rise again. Misunderstanding what You meant she said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ But You replied saying, 'I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.' Addressing every disciple today You say, 'Do you believe this?’ And our response must always be, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’