The WORD today (See http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072914.cfm) reminds me how important and powerful action is.
In sports, you cannot win games just by strategizing and planning. No matter how great the coach is, or no matter how the good the plays are, these alone are not enough to win games. These should be played on the court. These should be translated into action.
In the spiritual sense, this is true as well. In the bible, it says that “Faith without works is dead.” Yes, it is true. We should live our faith. We should spread our faith. We should work for our faith.
The gospel shows us how action oriented Martha is, whose feast we are celebrating today. in one option, we see her doing all the work, serving Jesus (though she lost her focus on Jesus and got stressed and carried away by the tasks). And in the other gospel, we see how she again acted and welcomed Jesus as he was going on his way to their house. However, we see not only her actions, but her profession of faith as well.
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world”
We see her faith that was translated into action. We see her action based on her faith. Perfect combination.
Martha did not have it all at once. In one story, we see her being action oriented but lacking faith and focus. But Jesus love and compassion eventually led her to improve her faith, thus in the second story, we see her action backed up by faith. We are not perfect, we may lack faith, God’s love will eventually transforms us. We just have to listen and allow him to do that in our lives – like he did in Martha’s.
May we be inspired by St Martha’s faith and action working in hand in hand as we do God’s work.
Father God,
Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for St Martha. May I have her faith and action – faith that knows you and trusts in you, and that faith translated into action. Likewise, may my actions for you always be founded on your love, founded on my faith in you, that I may not be distracted with anything or anyone as I work for you. Lord, in a special way, I also lift up to you those celebrating their birthdays today, especially Mady. Thank you for renewed faith, awareness, and love for you. I pray that you continue to deepen and strengthen their faith and guide and bless their actions like St Martha. Amen.
Blessed day!
In Christ,
-g-
Ps
See related reflection:
No comments:
Post a Comment