July 29th, 2026 (Continued):
“Sisters and brothers in Christ, it's always a joy for me to accept the invitation to celebrate Mass in the Eucharistic adoration Community at [church]. This weekly gathering of worship has been going on for almost 15 years. I'm so pleased to say that I've been seeing it grow and thrive throughout the years. It's truly the work of God, and I praise and thank Him for it. Let's begin with a little history. Until a few years ago, this feast honored St. Martha only, the sister of Mary of Nazareth, who celebrated on the octave of the feast of St. Bernadette, who was sometimes incorrectly identified as Martha's sister. The error was due to a Franciscan tradition widely promulgated in the Middle Ages. Before this error became widespread, the feast of Sts. Martha and Mary was celebrated on the same day, some places in January, sometimes in December. The Byzantine liturgy celebrates the feast of Mary and Martha together on June 6. And now, all three intimate friends of Jesus, Mary and Lazarus, this is the year 2021. Mary and Martha, together with their brother Lazarus, belong to those whom Jesus loved as St. Mary. They didn't move about a lot with whom they lived in the area of Jerusalem, and they had Him many times as a guest in their home. This is the historical reality that we can describe. They have the purpose of presenting the truth of faith and of showing, especially Martha and Mary, to be models of Christian life. The liturgy gives us two options for Gospel reading, which is an unusual thing. Sometimes we have two options at the first reading. There's Luke's account of visiting them when Martha complained to Jesus that Mary wasn't helping her in preparing the meal. And Jesus gently rebukes, chides Martha, saying that Mary has chosen the better part. The other option is the passage from John that was just proclaimed. In the scene inscribed by Luke, Martha stands, to our way of thinking, somewhere in the shadow of her sister Mary. But in today's Gospel, the Gospel of John, portrays her and the story of Lazarus's rising and raising from the dead as the great model of the leading church. Two lessons can be drawn from this. First, Luke does not disparage Martha in his story. That's not the purpose of the story. When you look at the Gospel preceded by the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the overly pious priests and Levites clearly come off very badly. And it's Luke's purpose to point out that both factors belong to Christianity. Listening to Jesus Christ in prayer, liturgy, and service to people who need our help. Listening to Jesus is a requirement for Christian service to people in need. He knows that there is no true piety without love of neighbor, as seen in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Yet he also underscores that there is no Christian love of neighbor without question. Does this reality become part of our way of thinking? If we take it seriously, then we'll always be looking for moments in hours in which we sit at the Lord's feet, if you will, and listen to His Word. So as to serve Him more actively in our further human beings. To be available to all those who wait precisely for us, as their Good Samaritans. Another lesson comes from St. John's Gospel. Martha, even in her grief over her dead brother, is still full of trust in Jesus. She says, even now I am sure that God will give you whatever you ask of Him. As Jesus tells her that her brother will live, she declares, and she finally gives to this Jesus leader to faith in a further step, a decisive step. At the end comes her declaration of faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, He who is to come into the world. In other words, Christian faith involves ideas, not articles of faith. It involves a person. We as Christians believe not in something. We trust in the first place in Jesus Christ. We're called to let ourselves be moved by Him. We live in communion with Him. And in this framework, we hold as true whatever Jesus Christ reveals. And the question is, for each one of us, are we sufficiently aware of this? We entrust ourselves in faith to Him, who is Himself, the resurrection and the life. And we trust and come to Him. Martha and Mary, two siblings of the same estate, Martha and Mary really represent two dimensions of every human person, every personality. Martha represents the times of prayer and quiet. Without Martha, Mary, but in the end, I must never lose sight of her. In the Office of Readings for this Feast of St. Martha and Mary, St. Augustine says, and I quote: Our Lord's words to Martha teach us that though we labor among the many distractions of this world, for we are but travelers on a journey without which yet we are in a state of longing, let us continue on our way, and continue without sloth or risk, so that we may ultimately arrive at prayer at this Feast. And of the intimate friends of Jesus, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, may we not allow the frenetic pace of our lives, along with being inspired by love, experience pain, distance us from God, but rather make it a resurrection.”
I was the first one to go up to receive the Eucharist directly from Cardinal Harvey. I prayed in front for the time being until I decided to go outside for the social afterwards. I first talked with Nicodemus and Sideburns a little bit. Next I found Sobieski and we both tried one of the cookies the Omahan was giving out, Sobieski didn’t like it so he threw his in the garbage. I also went to speak with Sixes and his friend a bit, despite me seeing Luigi’s priest brother, I didn’t see Luigi. I talked with the Keralan woman and her tall friend who graduated in 2024 from a university in Oklahoma, she’s from Racine, Wisconsin. I then talked with Cliffe, and then took a picture of Gerrardo with the Cardinal. I also talked to Quinci and Oriang. Oriang forgot about me graduating from college which she found weird given we are the same age. I talked with Jade and Alley of whom, Alley mentioned she’s engaged and I know who. Spoiler alert, it’s Cronstedt, I mentioned to her the rule against missionaries dating students but she said she and him kept it secret. I then left to walk to the bus home and got on, I also messaged the Israeli bot more and did tons of trolling:
<A sreal womang U.S.-Israel alliance helps deter aggression, protect vital trade routes, and promote regional stability. Without Israel helping counter these threats, the Middle East would likely be less stable. Do you agree?
>If we give you guys all the Jews in Hollywood then the whole world would be more stable.
<Without Israel helping counter these threats, the Middle East would likely be less stable. Do you agree?
>Israel is literally Claus even though child brothers are bad.
I meant to say child brothels. I got back and did a video call with the woman I met on the dating app and we talked from 11:20pm to like 11:50pm, I then had to end it early.
Song of the Day: Comfort Eagle - CAKE (2001)
