The lectionary for the Memorial of St. Martha offer us a choice of two Gospel readings: one concerning a visit Jesus made to the home of Martha and Mary as he passed through their village, and another relating a later visit which Jesus made to their home on the death of their brother Lazarus. Of the two, it is probably the first reading which most of us will recall when we hear the name Martha. In that reading Jesus chides her for being so anxious about all the matters involved in offering him hospitality. He praises Mary, her sister, for choosing the better part by remaining at his feet in the position of a disciple, and listening to his words.

In the second reading, we meet Martha again, coming out of her home to meet Jesus on the road as he was approaching to offer them consolation on the death of their brother. What is remarkable about this passage today is that in the last verse we hear her profess her faith in Jesus - not simply as the Holy One of God, but as the Christ, the Son of God. Although she is ordinarily pointed to as somehow lacking in the virtues required of a disciple, as Jesus approaches Jerusalem and his death, it is Martha who makes one of the clearest and heart-felt professions of faith in Him. The Marthas among us can find consolation in this alternative Gospel today that even those of us who are anxious and fret about many things are not excluded from among Jesus' closest disciples.