First reading 1 John 4:7-16
Let us love one another, since love comes from God
My dear people,
let us love one another
since love comes from God
and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,
because God is love.
God’s love for us was revealed
when God sent into the world his only Son
so that we could have life through him;
this is the love I mean:
not our love for God,
but God’s love for us when he sent his Son
to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
My dear people,
since God has loved us so much,
we too should love one another.
No one has ever seen God;
but as long as we love one another
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.
We can know that we are living in him
and he is living in us
because he lets us share his Spirit.
We ourselves saw and we testify
that the Father sent his Son
as saviour of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God lives in him, and he in God.
We ourselves have known and put our faith in
God’s love towards ourselves.
God is love
and anyone who lives in love lives in God,
and God lives in him.
Responsorial Psalm 33(34):2-11
I will bless the Lord at all times.
or
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
The angel of the Lord is encamped
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
Revere the Lord, you his saints.
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
Gospel John 11:19-27
I am the resurrection and the life
Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection and the life.
If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
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Bethany, the house of friendship
In the first reading, St John reminds us that “whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.” God’s home is not a building, but it is found in relationships. Wherever there is love, God is present. Today, we celebrate the Feast of the three siblings, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Their home in Bethany is a place where Jesus feels at home due to their love and friendship. If we choose to love, our lives can also become “Bethany,” where Jesus feels at home.
In the Gospel, Jesus goes to Bethany after Lazarus has died. Martha goes out to meet Jesus and expresses her pain and her hope honestly, saying, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.” Despite her grief, she stays in dialogue with Jesus. In that conversation, Jesus reveals Himself by stating, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Like Martha, we can talk to Jesus honestly when we feel disappointed and sad. Jesus always meets us where we are, helping to deepen our faith and guiding us to a mature declaration of “Lord, I believe”, even amid the challenges of our lives.
Reflective question:
How can my life be a place where Jesus is welcomed and loved?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD
