A while later, as Passover was drawing near, Jesus visited these friends again: he went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they prepared a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at table with Him¹¹.
Martha served… With what grateful love she must have done so! There, in her house, was the Messiah; there was God, in need of her care. And she was able to 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 could be His close friends. We cannot help but reflect time and again that the same Jesus of Nazareth, of Capernaum, of Bethany, is the same one waiting for us in the nearest Tabernacle, "in need" of our care. "It is true that I always call our Tabernacle Bethany… Become a friend to the Master's friends: Lazarus, Martha, Mary. And after that, you will no longer ask me why I call our Tabernacle Bethany"¹². He is there. We cannot pass by indifferently; we must not fail to visit Him every day… and remain in His company during those minutes of thanksgiving after Communion, without haste, without restlessness. Nothing is more important.
Saint Thomas teaches that there was no more fitting way to redeem humanity than through His Incarnation¹³. And he offers these reasons: as for faith, because it made it easier to believe, since God Himself was the one speaking; as for hope, because of the great proof of His saving will that this represented; as for charity, because no one has greater love than the one who lays down his life for his friends¹⁴; as for deeds, because God Himself would serve as our model: by assuming our flesh He showed us the importance of the human creature, and through His humiliation He cured our pride…
In the Most Holy Humanity of Jesus, God's love for us takes on human form, opening an inclined plane that gently leads us to God the Father. For this reason, the Christian life consists in loving Christ, in imitating Him, in following Him closely, drawn by His life.
Sanctification does not center on the struggle against sin—it is not something negative. It is centered on Jesus Christ, the object of our love: it is not merely about avoiding evil, but about loving the Master and imitating Him, who went about doing good…¹⁵. The Christian life is profoundly human: the heart holds an important place in the work of our holiness because God has placed Himself within its reach. And when the life of piety and personal friendship with the Master is neglected—allowing the heart to scatter itself among creatures—the force of will alone is not enough to move forward on the path of holiness. Therefore, we must strive to see Him always close to our lives, using our imagination to picture the living Christ: the One born in Bethlehem, who worked in Nazareth, and who had friends during His mortal life whom He truly cherished and visited often because their company comforted Him.
Let us learn from Jesus' friends to treat Him with immense respect, because He is God, and with great confidence, because He is our lifelong Friend who continuously seeks our companionship.
HCD