John 11:20

His good friend Lazarus has died, and just to make sure he’s good and dead, Jesus delays his arrival in Bethany for two days. When he finally arrives, Martha rushes out to confront him for his tardiness. This is the Martha who in Luke wanted Jesus to tell Mary to quit listening to him and go help her in the kitchen. Martha, ever the woman of action, can’t wait for Jesus to come to her; she goes out to him. Mary, ever the contemplative, sits at home among the mourners.
Like in Luke’s story, Martha is accusative and demanding: “if you had been here, may brother would not have died.” Like with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, Jesus begins a confusing conversation about rising from the dead. With the Samaritan woman, Jesus declares that “I am the living water.” To Martha, he declares, “I am the resurrection and the life”. The scene ends with Martha’s statement of faith, “I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
“Is coming into the world’? Jesus is standing in front of her! Why not “has come into the world” or “is in the world”? It seems that the coming of the Christ, the Word that was in the beginning, is a process. That process is still unfolding, and we are part of that process. When we enter into ministry with love we enter into that unfolding and allow God to unwrap our very own funeral bands.
If you are giving to St T through automatic transfers, please go onto your phone and download the Pushpay app. When you get to “search for your church” enter “saint therese”. Alternatively you can go to the website and click on Donate Now. Either way, be sure to send a note to Diane Figaro at paa@st-therese.cc so she can discontinue your automatic transfer through our current agent.