Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Lectionary: 403/607

Thus the LORD answered me:
If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand;
If you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece.
Then it shall be they who turn to you, and you shall not turn to them;
And I will make you toward this people a solid wall of brass.

Today's first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah follows the track of yesterday's and tomorrow's first reading, which are also from Jeremiah. The "holy family of Bethany" -- Martha, Mary, and Lazarus -- would have been familiar with the Prophet's sayings; and might have recognized him as a type of the One who made their home his "home away from home." Before his final days in Jerusalem, Jesus stayed in Bethany where his disciples, admirers, and enemies found him. 

The Prophet's words can be used to study the home life of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus: 

• "If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand;
• Clearly, they enjoyed his presence despite Martha's rather stormy entrance into her own living room, while the Lord spoke to his disciples. Perhaps Martha did  lightened up and come back to herself after hearing the Lord twice call her name. 
• "If you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece."
• When Mary prophetically anointed the feet of Jesus with myrhh just days before he died, she brought "forth the precious without the vile," and her silent gesture spoke more loudly than any mouthpiece.
• "Then it shall be they who turn to you, and you shall not turn to them;
• The Church gratefully turns to this trio who remained his faithful friends and disciples. As the Shunnamite woman had provided a place for the Prophet Elisha when he turned to her and her husband, they provided a home for Jesus when he turned to them. 
• Consequently, they did not turn to Jerusalem but practiced their faith outside the doomed city.  
• "And I will make you toward this people a solid wall of brass."
• Although the New Testament does not record more of their story after the Lord's passion, death, and resurrection, we can be sure they became "a solid wall of brass" outside of Jerusalem as more and more people came to believe in him. Their home would be a sturdy shrine despite the opposition of local authorities. 

Jeremiah has described the faithful disciple of Jesus and the Evangelists Luke and John have given us these few stories about the Bethanite family to help us see how we might serve the Lord in our homes, especially as few of us are called to imitate his mendicant way of life.