ADDRESS GIVEN BY
PRIOR WILLIAM OSB
on 8 OCTOBER 2007
AT THE RECEPTION OF
SISTER ELIZABETH PIO
AS A NOVICE INTO
THE SOCIETY OF THE SISTERS OF BETHANY
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May
I speak to you in the name of the Father, Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Well, may I first say what a tremendous privilege to be asked
to preach a very short homily at this Clothing; thank you for
inviting me.
Two weeks
ago the Sisters here said their goodbyes to Sister Margaret Faith.
It was a celebration of a life served faithfully to the will of
God, and of dedication to the life of this Community. Sister’s
second name in Community was ‘Faith’ and she was true
to her name; the way she placed her trust in her Saviour, and
in her belief that God had called her to serve Him in the religious
life. As I pondered on Sister’s name I recalled that Isaiah
is the ‘prophet of faith’, and his pronouncements
reminded the people of his time of the faithfulness of God even
in the time of adversity, even though they doubted His direction
sometimes and wandered off down other pathways. ‘For thus
saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘in returning
and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall
be your strength, and therefore will the Lord wait, that He may
be gracious unto you; and therefore will He be exalted, that He
may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgement, blessed
are all they that wait for Him. And thine ears shall hear a word
behind thee, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’
When ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left.’
You see,
God sees the broader picture but He gives us the freedom to view
and discover the contents of that picture for ourselves. God is
not a control freak. He calls us as we are, where we are, and
enables us to become who we are. And for each and every one of
us, who we are will be a unique and, at times, disconcerting revelation.
And today is one of those unique and disconcerting revelations.
The receiving of the habit of a Religious requires from the Postulant
acceptance and trust that the Community has sought out the Will
of God, and is manifesting that Will by clothing you as a Novice
today. You have consented to this process of deliberation by accepting
the habit. But don’t be alarmed - you are on a journey and
this is just one of the many destinations you will arrive at on
this journey. For now, today, just enjoy this particular destination.
Stop, stand back and enjoy the view! It is incredibly beautiful!
Listen
to the words of Revelation Chapter 7, verses nine to twelve, this
is from the Jerusalem Bible translation – ‘After that
I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every
nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front
of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes
and holding palms in their hands. They shouted in a loud voice,
‘Victory to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!’
And all the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne,
surrounding the elders and the for animals, prostrated themselves
before the throne, and touched the ground with their foreheads,
worshipping God with these words, ‘Amen! Praise and glory
and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to
our God for ever and ever! Amen!’ And to affirm those words
of Revelation we have the wonderful words of today’s Gospel.
‘Jesus said, ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word
and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make
our home in him. Those who do not love me do not keep my words
and my word is not my own, it is the word of the one who sent
me. I have said these things to you while still with you but the
Advocate, the Holy Spirit, the Father will send in my name will
teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.’
I began this short homily with reference to Sister Margaret Faith,
and I commend her faith, together with the faith of the Sisters
present here with me now, both living and departed, they all stand
together. Revelation - ‘a huge number, impossible to count,
worshipping God. Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving
and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever!
Amen!’
The Holy
Spirit is a wonderful Person. As I listened with my headphones
on, on Sunday morning to the service on the radio, one of my favourite
hymns was sung. We don’t sing it, sadly, because it’s
in the Methodist hymn book. And whenever I worship with my Methodist
friends I always hope they’re going to sing this hymn. I
think you’ll know it but I’m going to bore you and
read the verses to you because the words mean so much to me –
it’s from ‘Lamentations’ actually. ‘Great
is thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning
with thee, thou changest not, thy compassions may fail not, as
thou hast been, thou forever wilt be. Summer and winter, and springtime
and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above, join
with all nature in manifold witness, to thy great faithfulness,
mercy and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine
own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today and
bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine with ten thousand
besides. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies I see, all I have needed thy hand
hath provided, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.’
When I
entered community a few years ago, when I arrived at Alton there
was a letter from the Sisters at Tymawr. And there was just this
card inside this envelope, I’ve still got it. And the words
have meant a great deal to me because they talk about community.
And I’ll just finish with those words if I may - ‘Many
lovers came together to love One only, their Beloved, who made
them to abide in love. And each one had the Beloved for his precious
possession.’ Amen.
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Address
given by Abbot Giles OSB
on the occasion of the 140th Anniversary
of the Foundation of the Sisters of Bethany
on 5 October 2006 |
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 Readings:
Old Testament: Hosea 2:19,20 New Testament: Philippians 3:7-14
Gospel: Luke10:38-42
“Now as they went on their way He entered into a village
and a woman named Martha received Him into her house and she had
a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened
to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving and
she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my
sister has left me to serve alone. Tell her then to help me”.
The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious
and troubled about many things; one thing is needful, Mary has
chosen the good portion. It shall not be taken away from her”.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Yesterday,
the first letter I opened was from our Brethren in Three Rivers,
Michigan, the Abbey of St Gregory and the Prior of that House
was writing to me about a Vocations Month and complaining bitterly
about how few young men offer themselves - only 7! and of that
7, two of them fell out of the list very quickly, one found that
he had to go and work to raise money to get himself through the
next part of his course at University; the other one had a similar
sort of excuse. By the time it came for Vocations Month to start
there was one left and I read this long, long essay on why Monastic
Houses in the Western world are failing. And, I got to the end
of it and thought to myself, there is no sign of hope at all;
and of course, it’s true, because Society has changed. It
has changed radically since even I entered Community 40 years
ago. And we are a Society where the individual counts, the Community
doesn’t any longer. This is how Society is.
What is the
place today for you and I as Monks and Nuns. Your Community has
a history of 140 years, mine is about 120. We came into Community
and we were taught were we not, many of us anyway, you push your
will aside, push your wishes aside and make sacrifice to the whole
Community of yourself. And it is very difficult for us to come
to terms with things as they are today, we find them difficult.
The consequence of those difficulties will be that we get smaller.
Now that is not to say we haven’t got something to give
to the Christian Church and to the world, something deeply important.
So what has
a Community, Christian Community, of consecrated celibates got
to say to the world today? Our main vocation isn’t going
out nursing the sick, it isn’t necessarily going out preaching
the gospel any longer, it isn’t getting involved in ‘Doing’
any longer. I remember coming to this Community as a Novice when
it was in Bournemouth and having a Novices’ Conference and
the ‘in’ thing in those days was ‘being’.
We were so busy ‘being’ most of us didn’t actually
know what they were talking about. So, after 40 years in Community
one begins to see that there is something to be said, to be simply
a silent sign to the Church, because the Church needs that sign
more than anybody else, because we are constantly backing off
telling people the gospel and what that implies and the responsibilities
that it has and as a consequence people are turning away.
In Europe,
the Holy Father, the last Holy Father not the present one, decided
that Benedictines should enter into Inter-Faith Inter-Monastic
Dialogue called DIM because it had come back to the Vatican that
a lot of young people particularly in places like Germany and
France were turning to Buddhism. He wanted to know, they wanted
to know, Why? So he said that the Benedictine confederated families
should get together and enter into Dialogue with men and women
of other faiths, monastic men and women of other faiths, and it
has been interesting but it didn’t take us very long to
realise what had attracted each other. The thing that was attracting
them was that the Lama, the leaders of the Hindu religion, the
Jews, Muslims, knew what they believed and weren’t afraid
to say it and live it. Then when I found myself among Christian
monks and nuns who were present there was no real dialogue going
on because we were not actually entering into it ourselves and
one felt sometimes that it was because we were unsure of our ground.
The young people see in the Lama, the Hindu leaders, the Muslim
leaders, men and women who speak with authority and sadly all
too often the Church hasn’t those sort of men and women
who will speak with authority; speak as prophetic voice to the
people of God and the world.
Now I want
to suggest that that is what you are doing as Nuns; you are speaking
to the world with the authority of your prayer-life behind you
and that is an essential; your life is prophetic, it is saying
in effect “don’t look at me, look at God” this
is how things are, don’t lose heart because you are getting
older, so am I. Remember that your presence is an essential part
of the beating heart of the Church, without you something is not
there, something that is valid and of great value. Your Sisters
in the past, like you, have given their whole heart to the Church
and to Christ, so have you, the fact that you are not able to
do just as they did, so what! The very fact that you live together
and stay together is an essential sign to the Church because in
a world where there is no stability the Church needs that prophetic
sign of stability and although I know you don’t take my
vows, or the same vows that we Benedictines take, Stability is
there and it is an essential sign of the Church in the world.
Today should
be joyful not sad, that Monk out in Three Rivers Michigan should
be joyful not sad because as long as there is only 7 of them they
are a sign to a Church, the American Church, which is in a sad
mess. A sign of stability, of men and women who are prepared to
cling to the cross because that is all we have.
It is an essential
thing for us all that we are here today to be followers of Jesus,
to cling on to Him even when things don’t seem to be going
our way. It is at the end of the road He knows what is best for
us and the essential thing is that we hear that voice saying “Well
done, good and faithful servant, enter into the Kingdom of God”.
Put together your faithfulness, your stability, your love for
one another, and you have a wonderful, almost an icon, of living
the Gospels.
As we allow ourselves to be aware of God’s movement in our
midst, we are living signs of God’s presence in the Church
and the World.
In the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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It
is a great pleasure to be a part of your Associates’ Day
today, particularly as my Grandmother was brought up by the
Sisters of Bethany in Bournemouth towards the end of the first
world war and she was an Associate all the rest of her life
until she died a couple of years ago. I can remember as children
she used to tell us stories about life in the convent and we
were very glad that we didn’t have that kind of life!
She was very appreciative of what the Sisters did for her, not
only in her childhood but throughout her life.
I
am the Precentor at Portsmouth Cathedral and one of the things
that I have to do is to provide cover for all of the services
at the Cathedral. In order to do that I send out “availability
sheets” for each month. They have 30 or 31 boxes on them
and within each box there are the number of services there are
for that particular day. Then I get them all back again, eventually
after much chivvying. I reckon I could do a personality analysis
on the returns. Some fill in the forms very precisely, some
cross out the ones they can’t do, some tick the ones they
can do, some do both. Some put 2 ticks in the box and you have
to guess which service they mean and any number forget to put
their names at the top of the sheet. But that is alright because
having been there nearly a year I am getting used to everyone’s
style and I know who they are and so it doesn’t really
matter whether they put their names down or not. They are all
individuals, of course, and their returns reflect the fact that
they are individuals and they do things differently.
We
are all different - Praise God – He created us that way,
and there could be no other way of doing it. We have a beautiful
illustration of that in the household of Mary and Martha. That
home graphically shows us how people of different personalities
interact. I want to think about the gospel passage where Martha
invites Jesus to lunch and all that was going on in that household
and all the dynamics of that household when Jesus came to share
with Mary and Martha. There was Martha busy in the kitchen while
Mary sat and talked, and there was a certain frisson that arose
between them. Martha got very annoyed with Mary because she
was apparently just sitting around doing nothing and she appealed
to Jesus to get Mary to help her. Two different people having
a very different outlook on life. There was Martha, she had
a job to do and she needed to get it done. She wanted everything
to be just right for this very special guest and she dashed
about determined to make things perfect. Mary was at the other
end of the scale, apparently very laid back; some might say
that she was lazy as she sat about listening to what Jesus was
saying. But, of course, she wasn’t being lazy she was
undertaking a ministry equally as important as Martha’s
– listening was equally important as the hospitality of
the meal. In actual fact they made a perfect team, so when Martha
challenged Jesus to get him to sort Mary out; if you look in
the pages of Luke’s gospel he actually condemns neither.
So, neither is wrong, and neither is right either.
What
does the home of Mary and Martha have to teach us the Associates
and the Sisters of Bethany? Let’s look at what was going
on before that meal happened. Jesus had been busy – he
had been teaching and encouraging his disciples to work with
him and he had sent out the seventy to go in pairs among all
the towns and villages to prepare the way and afterwards there
was a de-briefing session. He had been fielding questions from
clever people, like “who is my neighbour?” - and
putting together stories like the Good Samaritan to help them
understand. So by the time of our episode he’s probably
pretty tired and would just like to sit down and relax. What
better way to relax than being invited out to a meal? Especially
perhaps when you are an honoured guest. But sometimes when you
are an honoured guest it makes things more difficult than if
you are just a friend from round the corner. Things can get
a bit fraught when you have people for lunch especially when
you want things to be just right. There are some lovely human
reactions in that story. When Martha appeals to Jesus to get
Mary to help, he doesn’t say that she shouldn’t
be rushing around because, if the truth were known, he is probably
quite hungry as well. Rather he tells her that she is distracted
by many things. It is not the actual task that is keeping her
from Jesus, it is the way she is approaching it. Mary, on the
other hand is more relaxed, some might say too relaxed, and
so is able to enjoy Jesus’ company. The first thing we
learn as individuals is not to analyse whether our character
is like Mary or Martha (or the male equivalent) but about whether
the way in which we go about our lives is distracting us from
our relationship with God. Jesus is not saying we should just
sit about and it will all be alright, because even the way we
sit about can distract us. If Mary had been gazing out of the
window instead of listening attentively to Jesus he wouldn’t
have had very good company at all. In reality we need to be
doing things like Martha and making space to reflect and listen
like Mary. Both of those things need to be done in such a way
so as not to distract us from our relationship with God. So
what was it that distracted Martha so much? Was it just that
she had too much to do? Or was it that she was trying too hard
to make it special? Or was she even trying to impress? So the
first thing we might learn is not to get distracted from the
task in hand, whether it is a doing task, or a being task, and
certainly not to get distracted by our own self-centredness.
This
brings us on to the tricky question of the motives for our action
or inaction. If Mary’s motive for sitting down with Jesus
was just to take the weight off her feet and have a quiet snooze
and she couldn’t really be bothered to help Martha then
Martha was right to get annoyed. On the other hand Martha was
doing her very best to show kindness to her friend Jesus, but
Jesus didn’t need kindness in that way at that time. He
was on his way to Jerusalem and his mind was set on what was
likely to happen there, even the likelihood of his death. So
he didn’t need people fussing about him at the time. In
other words, Martha was being very kind, but it was the wrong
kind of kindness. It was kindness on her terms rather than the
kindness that Jesus needed. which was just a simple meal and
space to think. That is what Mary understood, though Martha
was too busy trying to be kind, to be kind. So here is the second
thing we might learn. Of course we want to show kindness to
people, but if we are honest we often want to be kind to them
in our own way. And worse, should it be that our way of kindness
is not really what is needed we sometimes take offence because
we are not appreciated. And that is where the lesson of the
woman at Shunem, with Elisha can be taken into account. She
provided hospitality as a friend; she built a room on the roof
for Elisha to use when he needed it. Hospitality with no strings
attached. If we want to show real kindness to people we have
first to try and see into their hearts, put their needs first,
listen to them rather than use our own ideas for that which
we might conveniently do. The third thing that we might learn
from the household of Martha and Mary is that there are very
different types of people, different talents and different ways
of doing things. That in fact is the strength of a community,
whether it is a gathered community in a religious house or the
community of prayer of associates scattered across the country.
Different ways of viewing a situation can be positive or it
can lead to tensions. Like Martha we may be distracted by our
differences and get cross. Or we can rejoice in our diversity,
focused on the call that Christ has for each of us as we work
together in the community, whether it is local or scattered.
God
values each of us equally whether we are Mary’s or Martha’s
(or the male equivalents). At the house of Bethany Jesus loved
Martha and Martha loved Jesus and wanted to do the very best
for him, but Martha was distracted. When she tried it all went
horribly wrong, Jesus got annoyed and Martha got cross with
Mary. Her way of being kind was really unkind to the man who
wanted no fuss and who was desperate for a bit of peace and
quiet.
Jesus
loved Mary and Mary loved Jesus, and Mary understood. Amen.
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MEDITATION
ON MARTHA, MARY AND
LAZARUS
Martha
Luke 10:38-42
Jesus
and his disciples came to a village where a woman named Martha
opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat
at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha
was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She
came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that
my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help
me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are
worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.
Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away
from her.”
Christ
in the house of Martha and Mary by Vermeer |
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In
Vermeer’s painting our eyes are attracted to Martha, she
is centre stage and she is claiming our attention – Our
Lord is pushed to one side and Mary is lost in a world and space
of her own – lost even to our attention.
How often
the urgency of our own needs and the pressures of our busy life
cause us to fall into the trap of this scene. |
We
want God to be our priority, we want to lose ourselves in God,
like Mary, but Martha spoils our fine intentions. She seems to
be unaware that she is interrupting a precious moment. Her concerns
are not ignored by Jesus – but she is in danger of being
the loser. Deep within each of us there is a longing for Jesus
to take notice of us and meet our needs.
The one thing necessary is that which brings us nearer to eternal
life at each moment. At this particular moment it was more important
to listen to Jesus than to worry about making a good impression
on Him.
Martha and Mary are not opposed. It is not good works versus prayer,
worship against the social gospel, it is not either/or but the
balance of both emphases.
Jesus is not taking Martha to task for getting on with things
that have to be done, nor is he praising Mary for giving him her
total attention, – rather He is curbing Martha’s over-busyness
and critical spirit. There is not quite as much to do in the immediate
as she is perhaps trying to make out. Who Jesus is and what he
is about has to come first at that precise moment.
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Heinrich
Fullmaurer: Im Haus von Maria und Martha |
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Here
is a very homely domestic scene, painted in warm colours. Mary
is sitting, or kneeling, in the foreground looking up at Jesus
who is seated on a throne symbolic of His authority – sitting
is a teaching posture, and he is pointing His finger in authority. |
Lazarus
is central in the picture – he is preparing the simple table
in a calm manner – probably listening to Jesus as he gets
on with his task.
Martha left Jesus to work in the kitchen, and now she appears,
dishevelled and worn-out in the doorway. Her arrival appears like
a breathless intrusion on a calm scene. She is striking a discordant
note, “I can’t cope,” she seems to be saying,
wagging her finger and brandishing her spoon and cooking pot,
demanding attention.
Through the window we can see a great crowd of people coming towards
the house from the city. They are coming because they know that
Jesus is at Bethany and they want to be where Jesus is.
Lazarus is wearing black – signifying his death and resurrection
– he appears undistracted by Martha’s outburst –
he appears focussed on his task and recollected in the presence
of Jesus.
Mary is fully occupied in adoring attention to Jesus.
Both Lazarus and Mary give us clues how to stay close to Jesus
– and that is the lesson that Martha too will learn.
Blessed
are the poor in spirit (those who know their need of God) theirs
is the Kingdom of God.
Thomas Traherne said, “One may not be so much given over
to action as to forget divine speculation.”
The key to the integration of these 2 emphases is Christ himself.
Traherne also said, “Our Saviour Jesus lived a life in public;
sociable, humane, charitable, free and common. And yet for opportunity
of special devotion, retired to prayer and contemplation.”
We take Jesus therefore as our model – withdrawal is sometimes
absolutely necessary for our spiritual well-being and sanity –
but it must never be a selfish end in itself,
Traherne again, “solitude is a good school in which to learn
piety and virtue, and the world is the best theatre in which to
practise it.”
This state of balance is not something we achieve merely by our
own efforts – we must ask God to reveal Himself to us that
we might find our balance in Him – service and adoration
indissolubly one for ever.
Martha must have achieved this balance – it was she who
said, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
He who is coming into the world.” John 11:27.
back |
Mary
John 12:1-11
Six
days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus
lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was
given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was
among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about
a pint of pure nard, and expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’
feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled
with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray
him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the
money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”
He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because
he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself
to what was put into it.
“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied, “It was intended
that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You
will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have
me.”
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there
and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom
he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to
kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were
going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
The anointing of Jesus’ feet follows the raising of Lazarus
from the dead. Mary would have anointed the body of Lazarus after
he had died, in preparation for his burial.
Was Mary’s gesture an act of gratitude for the restoration
of her brother?
Was it an extravagant act of love and gratitude?
Martha had declared her belief that Jesus was Messiah Son of God
– was Mary demonstrating that she shared that belief?
The washing of feet was a sign of service and humility - prefiguring
the washing of feet at the Last Supper?
Mary would have been saving the ointment for future burials and
so, to affirm her belief in the resurrection, did she use it extravagantly
because it wouldn’t be needed again?
Jesus tells Judas, “Let her alone, let her keep it for the
day of my burial,”(John 12:7) – was he preparing his
friends for his death?
At the resurrection the Marys to whom Jesus appeared are recorded
as clasping him by the feet. (Matthew 28:9)
Mary may have known that the Chief Priests and Pharisees had begun
plotting Jesus’ death following the raising of her brother,
Lazarus from the dead (John 12:9-11) – her gesture was to
express that for which she had no words.
Did Mary fully realise the significance of what she was doing-
was it a calculated gesture?
Was Mary one who acted impulsively, following the promptings of
her heart?
Following Jesus’ speaking of his impending death was she
letting Him know that she understood what was to come?
Was this act, which Mary performed, to balance Martha’s
service in the kitchen?
What are the lessons we can learn from Mary?
back |
Lazarus
John 11:1-45
Now
a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village
of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus
now lay sick was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and
wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus,
“Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not
end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s
Son may be glorified through it.” Jesus loved Martha and
her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick,
he stayed where he was two more days.
Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the
Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?”
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight?
A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s
light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has
no light.”
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend
Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get
better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples
thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly,
“Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not
there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples,
“Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the
tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,
and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the
loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been
here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now
God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection
at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever
lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you
are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister
Mary aside, “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and
is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly
and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but
was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews
who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how
quickly she got up and went out, they followed her supposing she
was going to the tomb to mourn there.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell
at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with
her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
“Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes
of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave
with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,”
he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man,
“by this time there is a bad odour, for h has been there
four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed,
you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father,
I thank you that you have heard me, but I said this for the benefit
of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent
me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus,
come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped
with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let
him go.”
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had
seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.
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We
expected Jesus to come, we wanted him to come, we sent and asked
him to come – we pinned our hopes on him.
We couldn’t understand his not coming when our need was
so desperate.
We couldn’t believe that he really loved us when he didn’t
come.
And
so I died. |
Jesus
wept when he came – why?
He shared the sorrow of my sisters Mary and Martha,
He was sorry that his delay had disappointed them,
He was sorry that I had died in pain.
Perhaps
he could see me in heaven – in the bosom of His Father,
He knew what it was like in heaven,
He shared the experience of Paradise,
And Jesus wept at the memory of it all,
with joy for my intimacy with His Father,
He wept with longing for His Father.
Jesus
called out, “Lazarus come forth,” –
He has authority in heaven and on earth.
And so I was snatched away from that heavenly experience.
Did Jesus recall his own experience in being torn from the heart
of God at his incarnation?
I
was born to newness of life and nothing will ever be the same
again.
How did Lazarus’ experience of heaven give him courage
and hope for the future?
To what things of his former life on earth was he now dead?
How did Lazarus’ resurrection glorify God? (John 11:4)
Martha
and Mary had to let Lazarus go in order to receive him back
– transformed, resurrected, healed, empowered.
In the face of Lazarus’ death Martha was able to say to
Jesus – “I believe you are the resurrection and
the life.”
In what way did the rest of their lives together reflect this
newness of resurrection life and give glory to God?
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Icon
from the Benedictine Priory of Bethany, Loppem, Belgium.
Ikoon van de Vrieden van Jeses: Martha, Maria en Lazarus;
by Claudio PASTRO, Brazil. |
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Lazarus and
Mary’s eyes are turned upward – gazing God-wards.
Jesus is looking at me, blessing me and pointing towards God.
Martha is looking towards Jesus. |
In
the same way as Jesus was with Martha, Mary and Lazarus, He is
with us by our fellowship with each other in Community –
by our lives collaborating by obedience and love into the action
of the Holy Trinity in our world.
The Lord is with us by our day by day journeying around the circle
of love which is centred on His presence with us and by the sign
of Blessing at the heart of this icon. back |
COLLECT
Almighty
God, whose Son Jesus Christ when living among us, honoured with
his presence the house at Bethany. Give us grace, like Lazarus
to walk in newness of life, like Martha to feed Christ in serving
our brothers and sisters, and like Mary, attentive to your Word,
to be fed by him who is the bread of life, our Saviour: who is
alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and
for ever. Amen.
Let
us learn from Martha, Mary and Lazarus how we may be friends with
Jesus.
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![Sister Joanna Elizabeth [Sacristan], Sister Elizabeth Pio N, Sister Rita-Elizabeth [Novice Guardian]](images/Sisters/Srs%20JE,%20EP,%20R-E%20cropped%20slightly.jpg)
