Examples of Faith: Mary and Martha

Martha’s reception of our Lord into her house is the expression and result of her faith in him. Martha believed in Jesus. She not only opened the doors of her home to him, but the doors of her heart as well. And as he did with Martha, our Lord calls at the hearts of the men and women in every age, asking to be allowed in. The Eternal Word of the Father made Man comes out to meet us, his brothers and sisters, looking for a welcome. On our part, all we have to do is to receive him by faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, faith is our response to God who reveals himself and gives himself to us. Faith means opening our doors to Christ, welcoming him into our home, sharing our table with him; it means letting him into the most intimate part of our soul. That is what the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus did at Bethany. And by imitating them, we too can share in God’s intimacy. “Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God