July 29, 2013

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Memorial of Saint Martha 

Lectionary: 401/607

Reading 1EX 32:15-24, 30-34

Moses turned and came down the mountain
with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands,
tablets that were written on both sides, front and back;
tablets that were made by God,

Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments which God had written on tablets of stone.

having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself.
Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting,
he said to Moses, “That sounds like a battle in the camp.”
But Moses answered, “It does not sound like cries of victory,
nor does it sound like cries of defeat;
the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry.”

Joshua heard noises in the camp.  And Moses recognized that the Hebrews were having an orgy.

As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing.
With that, Moses’ wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down
and broke them on the base of the mountain.

When he saw that this was true, Moses was so angry that he broke the stone tablets.

Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire
and then ground it down to powder,
which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink.

He took the calf iidol that they were worshipping and ground  it up into dust. 

Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people ever do to you
that you should lead them into so grave a sin?”

Moses then confronted Aaron, who had been put in charge when Moses left up the mountain.  He should have prevented them from such a sin.

Aaron replied, “Let not my lord be angry.
You know well enough how prone the people are to evil.
They said to me, ‘Make us a god to be our leader;
as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt,
we do not know what has happened to him.’

Aaron, however, blamed the people.  As they were prone to evil and he was afraid of disobeying their demands.

So I told them, ‘Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.’
They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”

On the next day Moses said to the people,
“You have committed a grave sin.
I will go up to the LORD, then;
perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin.”

On the next day, Moses informed the people that he would go back to God and do his best to make up for their sins.

So Moses went back to the LORD and said,
“Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin
in making a god of gold for themselves!
If you would only forgive their sin!
If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.”

Moses traded his eternal life in exchange for God's forgiving of the people's sin.

The LORD answered, “Him only who has sinned against me
will I strike out of my book.

But God refused to punish an innocent man.  Only the guilty would be written out of the book.

Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you.
My angel will go before you.
When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

And God said, when it is time for me to punish the people for their sin, I will punish them.

Responsorial PsalmPS 106:19-20, 21-22, 23

R. (1a) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

We must put God above all things.  There are many idols which people worship today.  The most prevalent of which is money.  People do almost anything for money and to be wealthy.  Don't fall in that trap.  Worship God alone.

GospelJN 11:19-27

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.

St. Martha, although sad about her brother's death, had the presence of mind to come and welcome Jesus.

Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.

Martha said to Jesus, "If you had been here, Lazarus would still be alive."

But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”

And even now, I have faith that you can bring him back to life.

Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”

Jesus said, "Your brother will live again."

Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”

Martha suspected Jesus was talking about the resurrection of the faithful on Judgment day.

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.

And He asked her, "Do you believe that I am the true life?'  She answered, "Yes."

I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”

I have come to understand that you are God.

OrLK 10:38-42

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”

On that day, Martha learned that the most important person is Jesus.  And that the most important thing in the world is to keep our eyes upon Him.