“Pride comes before the fall,” the old saying goes.
When we succumb to pride, we find ourselves insisting that our way is the right way. Over time, we might come to find, like Martha, that we were actually working against God, and our failure to humbly and honestly examine ourselves has led us down that path.
Martha thought she was doing the right thing by busying herself with serving and being a good hostess. In reality, she was quite literally failing to listen to the words of Jesus, and asking her sister to do the same.
One of the antidotes to this type of stubborn pride comes in today’s Psalm: “Let Israel wait for the LORD, For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption.” If we wait on the Lord and ask him to guide us, it helps prevent us from unwittingly working against God.
Fortunately, Martha changed her ways. The wiser Martha of John 11 goes out to meet Jesus and has confidence in Him as the Messiah. So as we reflect on today’s Gospel, let us pray that God will guide us on His path to redemption, and give us the humility to see when we have veered off it.
“El orgullo viene antes de la caída”, dice el viejo refrán.
Cuando sucumbimos al orgullo, nos encontramos insistiendo en que nuestro camino es el correcto. Con el tiempo, podríamos llegar a descubrir, como Martha, que en realidad estábamos trabajando en contra de Dios, y nuestra incapacidad para examinarnos a nosotros mismos con humildad y honestidad nos ha llevado por ese camino.
Martha pensó que estaba haciendo lo correcto al ocuparse de servir y ser una buena anfitriona. En realidad, literalmente no estaba escuchando las palabras de Jesús y le pedía a su hermana que hiciera lo mismo.
Uno de los antídotos para este tipo de orgullo obstinado viene en el Salmo de hoy: “Como aguarda a la aurora el centinela, aguarda Israel al Señor, porque del Señor viene la misericordia, y abundancia de la redención”. Si esperamos en el Señor y le pedimos que nos guíe, nos ayuda a evitar que sin darnos cuenta trabajemos en contra de Dios.
Afortunadamente, Martha cambió su forma de ser. Marta más sabia de Juan 11 sale al encuentro de Jesús y tiene confianza en Él como el Mesías. Entonces, mientras reflexionamos sobre el Evangelio de hoy, oremos para que Dios nos guíe en Su camino hacia la redención y nos dé la humildad para ver cuándo nos hemos desviado.
J.M. Pallas has had a lifelong love of Scriptures. When she is not busy with her vocation as a wife and mother to her “1 Samuel 1” son, or her vocation as a public health educator, you may find her at her parish women’s bible study, affectionately known as “The Bible Chicks.”
Feature Image Credit: Jens Lelie, unsplash.com/photos/u0vgcIOQG08
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