Whatever you ask of God, God will give you
1 Jn 4,7-16; Ps 33; Jn 11,19-27
29 JULY
Martha has in her heart a faith in Jesus, but a not completely perfect one. It still lacks in many truths. True faith is not based on one truth. It is a multiple truth. The truths of the most pure faith in Lord Jesus cannot be counted. Every Word of Ancient Scripture and of the New Testament manifest a necessary truth to possess complete faith in Christ Jesus. But all Scripture is not sufficient either. There is the whole Tradition, the Magisterium, Theology and Agiography. They are all ways to achieve the purity of faith in the Saviour and Lord, Redeemer and God, the Incarnate, Crucified and Risen word, Ascended into Heaven and constituted by the Father Judge of the living and the dead. Some truth is already known. The centurion had revealed it. The presence of Jesus is not necessary to work a miracle. Many of Jesus’ miracles are made at the request of others, while the person to be healed, cured and liberated is absent and far away.
When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour (his) servant was healed (Mt 8,5-13).
The faith of Martha is not even perfect in believing in the immediate Word of Jesus: “Your brother will rise again”. She immediately refers to the resurrection of the last day. And when Christ Jesus tells her: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live; whoever lives and believes in me will not die forever “and then he asks her:” Do you believe this? “, she replies with a profession of general, not particular faith: “Yes, O Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who comes into the world”. For Marta, the brother is dead and he will remain dead. In her heart she is convinced that by now Jesus might not do anything, even because her brother has been in the tomb for four days already, and is already in a state of decomposition. A decaying corpse in her judgment might never be brought back to life. This is the current state of her faith. Other things cannot be asked, even if some elements of the truth of faith in Christ are already known.
And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. 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 of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
Today more than ever it is urgent to put every effort to compose in our heart all the elements that make the truth of the most pure faith in Jesus the Lord. It suffices that a single truth is lacking and faith is found without the fullness of light and consequently also of strength in the Holy Spirit to move our life forward towards its perfect fulfilment in Christ Jesus. Since in the present hour Christ the Redeemer has been reduced to a vague feeling, having found him stripped of all truth, it becomes impossible for the Christian to direct his life to his Saviour and Redeemer. He does not know his divine and human traits. In addition, a devastating work of false prophets is added to this that daily remove truth from truth, and we will understand why true hope and divine charity have died in hearts. Can it be remedied? It takes a long, long time.
Mother of God, Angels and Saints, help us to bring our heart into the truth of Jesus.