Gospel

‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.’
From the Gospel according to John 11:19-27

At that time: Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother, Lazarus. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.’ 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. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’

The Gospel of the Lord

Martha’s Waiting

What if God wants to give us something far greater than what we are asking for? Martha is heartbroken by the death of her brother and reproaches Jesus for not arriving in time. Yet Jesus does not respond by justifying Himself or by rushing to perform the miracle. Before raising Lazarus, Jesus wants to lead Martha to a deeper faith. That is why, before granting her the gift, He reveals who He is: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” First, He gives Himself; then He gives the gift. Martha wanted her brother back—a deeply human desire—but Jesus first wanted to win her heart by revealing who He was, so that her faith would not depend on circumstances. For the miracle would pass, Lazarus would die again, but faith in Christ would sustain her for the rest of her life. What a wonderful divine pedagogy!
So often in our marriage or in our spiritual life, we seek what God can do for us: to solve a problem, to change a situation, to relieve our suffering… Jesus does not dismiss our prayers; He listens to them with tenderness. But often, before changing our circumstances, He wants to teach us to live with hearts resting in Him. When Christ occupies the centre of our lives, our circumstances may not change immediately, but our hearts do—and with them, the way we live through those circumstances. Then even waiting becomes a place of encounter with Him.

Applied to Married Life:

Luke: We’ve been praying for our daughter for more than a year now, for this painful situation, and everything is still the same… I just don’t understand…
Margaret: Neither do I, Luke. It breaks my heart that the Lord doesn’t seem to act. So often I say to Him, “Lord, where are You? You’re too late! How can You allow this to happen?”
Luke: Perhaps the Lord wants to give us something even greater.
Margaret: Something greater? Forgive me, but I can’t imagine what could possibly be greater than having our daughter back.
Luke: That’s what I want too. And I’ll never stop praying for it. But perhaps, while we’re waiting for that miracle, the Lord is already working another one within us: teaching us to trust Him more, helping us to discover that He has not abandoned our daughter, that He loves her even more than we do, teaching us not to live as slaves to fear… and allowing us to experience an intimacy with Him that we would never have known without this trial.
Margaret: Thank you, Luke… You’ve just opened my eyes. This situation may last for some time, or it may be resolved tomorrow, but learning to trust, to wait and to walk with Christ… that is a gift no one can ever take away from us.
Luke: Exactly. And remember, Jesus did raise Lazarus in the end. He did not refuse them the very thing they longed for, but first He wanted to give them something that no one could ever take away: a faith firmly rooted in Him.

Mother,
when we do not understand God’s timing, remind us that He is never late, and teach us to wait in a different way. Blessed and praised are You for ever!

Gospel

‘Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.’
From the Gospel according to Matthew 13:36-43

At that time: Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.’

The Gospel of the Lord

Look at the Wheat!

In our hearts, both the wheat and the weeds grow together, and so they also coexist within our marriage. Between us there are acts of self-giving, forgiveness and tenderness, but pride, impatience, criticism and selfishness also appear. Let us not be so scandalised by the weeds we discover in our spouse’s heart, because they are growing in ours as well. The temptation is to want to pull up our spouse’s weeds straight away—to correct them, change them or make demands of them—when the first conversion the Lord asks of me is the conversion of my own heart. Jesus, however, does not begin by pulling out the evil. He begins by sowing good wheat. He transforms the heart from within, filling it with goodness until that goodness gradually overcomes and drives out the evil. God did not design our vocation so that we would become judges of one another, but so that we might cooperate with Christ, allowing His grace to make the wheat grow ever stronger while the weeds have less and less room to flourish. Today the Lord invites us to stop looking obsessively at the weeds in our spouse’s heart and to learn instead to contemplate the wheat that He Himself has sown there. Christ never loses hope in any of us. He continues to believe in the work He has begun, and He never grows weary of sowing. Let us show our spouse the same patience that the Lord shows us. Let us trust in the power of the seed, even while it is still small. Let us wait, accompany, forgive and love while God brings to growth what we so often fail to see. If we remain close to Christ, listening to His Word, putting it into practice and allowing ourselves to be transformed by His grace, the day will come when our marriage too will reflect His light. Then we shall understand that every moment of waiting, every struggle, every sacrifice and every effort to love was worthwhile. For the destiny to which God calls us goes far beyond merely putting up with one another or getting along well together. He calls us to live a love between us that transforms us and enables us to shine with Him for ever. Take heart! Let us never grow weary of sowing, of waiting and of loving. This is the way!

Applied to Married Life

Catherine: I look back and remember how we began this journey. There was a time when everything I saw in you seemed bad. I found it so difficult to recognise anything good in you.
Luke: It was the same for me, Catherine. We spent many years living badly and hurting one another. When our mentor couple encouraged us to look for the good in each other, I used to think, “What am I supposed to appreciate? She only wants to make my life difficult.” I was so blind!
Catherine: I was blind too. I was convinced that the solution to our marriage depended on you changing. And what’s more, I believed that change was impossible.
Luke: How much we suffered because we didn’t know how to love! Our lack of faith made us live with constant demands, criticism and judgement of one another. And that path leads only to destruction. It sounds so simple to say, yet so difficult to do: to stop focusing constantly on what the other person does wrong and begin giving thanks for and appreciating all the good that is truly there.
Catherine: That’s why we now have to be so patient with the couples we accompany. Sometimes I think they don’t believe us. I see them looking at us as though, for them, it’s impossible to reach a happy ending. But we once believed exactly the same.
Luke: That’s true. We thank God for the mentor couple He placed in our path. Despite everything they saw and all the pain we went through, they never gave up on us. They never stopped trusting, praying and proclaiming to us, again and again, the path that leads to love.
Catherine: And that’s exactly what we will do for the couples we accompany. We will never stop trusting in God’s work within their marriages. We will pray for them, walk alongside them and continue proclaiming that, with God’s grace, there is always hope.
Luke: Even if they can’t see it yet.
Catherine: Even if they believe it’s impossible.
Luke: Because God can make all things new.
Catherine: And now we’re going to pray the Rosary for them!

Mother,
We place into your hands the couples who are beginning this journey. Grant them faith, hope and perseverance, so that they may never give up. Praised be the patience of the Lord! Praised be His Holy Name!

Gospel

‘The mustard seed becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’
From the Gospel according to Matthew 13:31-35

At that time: Jesus put another parable before the crowd, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’
  He told them another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.’
  All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’

The Gospel of the Lord

Let It Grow.

In our marriage, on our wedding day, God planted the seed so that the Kingdom of God might grow among us, in our home. The Holy Spirit united us so that we might live out the beautiful plan He had prepared for us. He is always present, but this seed of the Kingdom of God cannot grow unless we welcome His grace. It cannot grow unless we allow ourselves to be transformed by His love, unless we become docile to Him. Every act of self-denial, every act of self-giving and welcome towards our spouse, every prayer in which we bring our sacrament before Him, whenever our vocation as husband and wife is the priority in our lives—all of this, always united to the Heart of Christ.
Then one day, almost without noticing it, we see that beautiful Kingdom of God which has grown within us and between us.

Applied to Married Life:

Louise: Paul, you’ve been very quiet today.
Paul: Yes, Louise. I was deeply moved during the Eucharist today. The Lord showed me just how beautiful every day we spend together is, despite all the difficulties.
Louise: The Kingdom of God has grown in our home like the mustard seed. From little things that seemed insignificant, the Holy Spirit has worked wonders.
Paul: Do you remember how difficult I found it at the beginning to let go of my attachment to professional success? It was something that kept driving us apart.
Louise: Yes, and now we place everything in God’s hands—and I think things have actually gone even better! As for me, jealousy used to cloud my judgement, and it caused us so many arguments and so much suffering.
Paul: That’s true, but praying together has allowed the Lord to show you more and more that it is our marriage, our sacrament, that is at the centre of my heart.
Louise: And then, all of a sudden, we look around and there it is—a great tree. But we mustn’t neglect it; we need to remain in the Heart of Christ, holding firmly to His hand.

Mother,
May we continue each day to allow the Kingdom of God to grow within our marriage. Praised be God!

Gospel