A parishioner shared with me her story about the two years she and her husband spent trying to have a baby. Through the treatments, monthly disappointment, and baby showers she smiled through, she said she prayed every night, the same prayer, and when nothing changed she started to wonder if God thought she wouldn’t be a good mother.

She has a daughter now, adopted, but she said she still confused (angry?) about why God didn’t grant her a child. She’s grateful for how things turned out, but the pain was intense. “It still hurts,” she said. “I don’t know that I’ll ever understand why.”

This conversation comes to mind when I talk about this gospel. Martha was also angry that Jesus took his time coming to help. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She’s saying what she feels: you could have helped, and you didn’t.

Jesus doesn’t correct her or explain himself. He weeps with her! Then he calls her dead brother out of the tomb and he comes.

This week, someone in your life is probably in the middle of their own impossible wait. They may not be handling it gracefully--maybe they’re angry, short-tempered, or hard to be around.

Resist the urge to explain God’s timing to them or remind them it will all work out. What if you just stayed and “wept with them.” Let them be where they are. When Jesus did that on the road with Martha, it was the thing she needed most before the miracle.

 God Bless

FF