Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
March 29, 2020
So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
He was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So 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?”
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Death can be one of the greatest struggles in our faith journeys. Unfortunately, it is a reality in all of our lives and it forces us to wrestle with important questions about who we are, who our loved one was, and where we are all headed in life after death.
A year and a half ago, my beloved Aunt Rosie passed away from pancreatic cancer and it was, quite frankly, devastating. I had similar feelings to Martha in this reading. Couldn’t God have healed Rosie? At 53, she was just too young and it wasn’t fair. However, Martha’s witness is a beautiful example of the human experience in that we can question and be upset and grieve. Denying these feelings would be to deny our human experience. However, we must always turn back to the profound truth that Martha professes, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
If we believe what Martha professes in our heart of hearts, we will trust God’s plan for our lives, our loved ones lives, and God’s promise of life in the kingdom of heaven. At the time of the funeral, that answer is totally unsatisfactory. It just is not good enough. The pain is too great and the sorrow seems to drown our existence. But slowly, we can begin to see the grace of God in what can be a terrible scenario. When I began to accept that fact, I started to feel Rosie’s presence in my everyday life and she has appeared to me in dreams; our loved ones never leave us – and neither does God.
Prayer
The sting of death is as sharp as it is crushing. We weep with Martha and Mary at the death of our loved ones, upon hearing of the horrors of war and of senseless violence. Through our tears we also profess with Martha, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Jesus, fill us with the hope that allowed Martha to make this powerful statement of faith. In you is our life and we believe in you, so that even if we die, we will live. Amen.
Saint of the Day
As bishop, St. Ludolph conformed his life to what he believed to be true, and suffered greatly for those convictions. Though he was not killed for his faith, he is honored as a martyr for the persecution he bore on account of his beliefs.
He was elected bishop of Ratzeburg, Germany, in 1236, but continued to live like a monk. He expanded the Church in his diocese, founding convents and deepening the practice of the faith. This work and his efforts defending the Church caused conflict with the duke, who had Ludolph imprisoned, beaten, and finally banished.
He died in exile around 1250 from the effects of the harsh treatment he received.
St. Ludolph, who suffered for defending the Church and spreading the faith—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Ludolph is in the public domain. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
