Some time later, when the Passover was near, Jesus visited these friends again: he went to Bethany where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus raised from the dead. There they prepared a supper for him. Martha was serving and Lazarus was one of those at table with him11 .
Martha served... With what grateful love she would do it! There, in her house, was the Messiah, there was God in need of her attentions. And she could serve Him. God became Man to be very close to our needs, so that we might learn to love Him through His Most Holy Humanity, so that we might be His dear friends. We cannot fail to consider again and again that the same Jesus of Nazareth, of Capernaum, of Bethany, is the same one who awaits us in the nearest Tabernacle, "in need" of our attentions. "It is true that I always call our Tabernacle Bethany? Make friends with the Master's friends: Lazarus, Martha and Mary. And then you will no longer ask me why I call our Tabernacle Bethany "12. He is there. We cannot remain indifferent, we must not fail to visit Him every day..., and to remain in His company during those minutes of thanksgiving, after Communion, without haste, without worrying. Nothing is more important.
St. Thomas teaches that there was no other more convenient way to redeem men than that of his Incarnation13.
. And he adduced these reasons: as regards faith, because it was easier to believe, since God himself was the one who spoke; as regards hope, because of the great proof of his salvific will that this represented; as regards charity, because no one has greater love than he who gives his life for his friends14 ; as regards works, because God himself was to serve us as a model: by assuming our flesh he showed us the importance of the human creature, by his humiliation he cured our pride....
In the Most Holy Humanity of Jesus, God's love for us takes on human form, thus opening up an inclined plane that leads us gently to God the Father. Therefore, the Christian life consists in loving Christ, in imitating him, in following him closely, attracted by his life. Sanctification does not have its center in the struggle against sin, it is not something negative; it is centered on Jesus Christ, the object of our love: it is not only a matter of avoiding evil, but of loving the Master and imitating him, who went about doing good...15. The Christian life is profoundly human: the heart has an important place in the work of our holiness because God has placed himself within its reach. And when the life of piety, personal friendship with the Master, is neglected, leaving the heart to be scattered among creatures, the strength of the will is not enough to move forward on the path of holiness. For this reason, we must strive to see him always close to our lives, and make use of our imagination.
. Therefore, we must strive to see him always close to our lives, and use our imagination to represent the living Christ to ourselves: the one who was born in Bethlehem, who worked in Nazareth, who had friends during his mortal life whom he truly appreciated and to whom he often went because their company comforted him.
Let us learn from the friends of Jesus to treat him with immense respect, because he is God, and with great trust, because he is the Friend of always, who continually seeks our treatment.
Hablar con Dios