(C.D. Stampley Enterprises, Charlotte, NC 2001). Used with permission.

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When stressed by entertaining

St. Martha (1^st century)

Feast day: July 29

If any saint understands the stress of preparing the house for guests it is St. Martha. She served dinner to the Son of God.

St. John tells us that "{ln:Jesus} loved Martha and her sister Mary, and Lazarus." The gospels record that three times Our Lord was a guest in their home in Bethany, a village barely two miles from Jerusalem. Of this family group, we get the strongest picture of Martha's character. She is a practical, down-to-earth, outspoken woman.

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The first time Martha appears in the New Testament, she is rushing about preparing a meal and trying to make everything perfect for {ln:Jesus} who has come to the family's house for dinner. Mary is not helping her sister. Instead, she has sat down on the floor, at the Lord's feet, to hear every word Christ says. Martha finds the situation galling in the extreme; 2000 years after the event, we can still hear the irritation in her voice when she Appeals to {ln:Jesus}, "Lord hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? Speak to her therefore that she help me" (Luke 10:40). Our Lord answers, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her."

At the time, Martha may have found {ln:Jesus}' reply irksome, but the next time we read of Martha in the gospels, it is obvious that she has discovered the one thing that is necessaryÑfaith in Christ.

St. John tells us when Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent word to {ln:Jesus} to come. {ln:Jesus} delayed going to Bethany for two days. By the time he reached the town, Lazarus was dead and buried. As Our Lord approaches the village, Martha, once again, takes the active part, going out to meet him while Mary sits at home with the mourners. The first thing she says to Christ is both a declaration of faith and a rebuke: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." But now that she has vented her grief, Martha makes an even more profound act of faith in Christ: "I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee."

Our Lord, for his part, prompts Martha to make an even more candid declaration that will show her neighbors and all future generations that she has indeed embraced the best part. And Martha does not disappoint: "Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, who art come into this world."

Now the scene moves to Lazarus' tomb. Christ commands that the stone be taken away and Martha, ever practical, reminds the Lord that Lazarus has lain in the ground in the ground for four daysÑthere is sure to be a foul stench. {ln:Jesus} insists nonetheless. The tomb is opened, and Christ raises his friend Lazarus from the dead.

The last time we see Martha and Mary and Lazarus is the day before the first Palm Sunday. Once again {ln:Jesus} is a guest at his friends' home. The risen Lazarus is at the table with Christ and his Apostles. St. John records that as usual "Martha served." Then Mary enters the room with a pound of expensive ointment. Without a word she pours it over Christ's feet, then wipes his feet with her hair. The gospel says "the house was filled with the odor of the ointment" (John 12:3), a beautiful image that can also be read as a metaphor for the faith of the family of Bethany.

It is strange that we do not hear of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus after Our Lord's resurrection. There is a tradition, however, that they traveled to southern France to preach the gospel. The town of Tarascon claims that Martha delivered the region from a terrible monster, the Tarasque, which was half lion, half fish, and larger than an ox. Another legend says that once while Martha was preaching, a teenage boy tried to swim across the river Rhone, the better to hear her. The current, however, was stronger than the young swimmer. He was carried down stream and drowned. When his family and friends brought the boy's body to Martha, she stretched out on the ground in the form of a cross, and prayed earnestly to Christ, reminding him that he had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. Then, addressing the Lord as "my dear guest," she begged him to restore life to this young man. Her prayer done, Martha stood up and took the boy's hand. Immediately, he came back to life.

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Prayer to the saints is a powerful thing.

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