Mary "Honey" Serrao Camara

(April 28, 1916 - September 9, 2007)

Memorial Service Main Page and Recordings

September 20, 2007 Memorial Service Transcripts

< Track 08: 2nd Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Michelle Lopes Ford)

      

Track 09: Gospel Reading: John 11:17-27

      

Track 10: Homily (Father Gary Secor) >
Man (the musician?): Please stand.

Alleluia (x4)
Congregation: Alleluia (x4)

The Word of the Lord lasts forever.
What is the word that is living?
It is brought to us through God's son:
Jesus Christ.

Congregation: Alleluia (x4)


Father Gary Secor (FGS): The Lord be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
FGS: A reading from the holy gospel according to John.
Congregation: Glory to you Lord.

     

17When Jesus arrived in Bethany, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles5 away. 19And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home.

21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22(But) even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you."

23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise."

24Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day."

25Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

27 6 She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."


FGS: the Gospel of the Lord
Congregation: praise be to you Lord Jesus Christ

Footnotes:

518 About two miles: literally, "about fifteen stades"; a stade was 607 feet.

627 The titles here are a summary of titles given to Jesus earlier in the gospel.

Notes:

For Alleluia, see 2nd verse, Celtic Alleluia (General/Seasonal Verses) by Christopher Walker, Fintan O'Carroll.

The above is from the NAB (New American Bible, see the Wikipedia entry). I used the (aparently original) version available on the USCCB website, and modified for the change from the (apparently later) version that was read (added "in Bethany", although that may have been for clarity because the reading started at verse 17 not 1). See the first note on Track 08: 2nd Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Michelle Lopes Ford). See the USCCB version for hyperlinked footnotes. See also John 11 (NIV) and CJB.

When I read the other potential "Gospel" readings, none of the others seemed to have the right "feel" (including the passage following where Jesus talks to Mary). It felt kind of odd being a part of picking a scripture passage for someone else to do a message on, but I felt good about this one, because it actually contained the Good News (gospel), and I was glad that Jay and everyone else that was there thought it was a good choice, too.

One of the cool things that I discovered about this passage was the meaning of the phrase "but Mary sat at home" in verse 20. Many translations (including the NIV) just say "but Mary stayed at home", but the CJB renders it "but Miryam continued sitting shiv`ah in the house". I was curious about the meaning of "shiv'ah". The entry in the CJB Glossary really clarified things for me:
      shiv'ah - literally "seven." After the burial of a father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or spouse a Jewish mourner remains at home for seven days; this custom is called "sitting shiv'ah." Yn 11:20 (Yochanan/John 11:20)
I've heard various teachings about the differences between Marta/Martha and Miryam/Mary, and they did have very different personalities, but there was more to it than just "Martha went to meet Jesus, but Mary stayed home" - when Mary was called, she obeyed. Also, when you look at the greek word "kathezomai" (kath-ed'-zom-ahee) it means to "sit down" or "sit" (not just "stayed"). And so, while just "sat" is the most litteral translation, the CJB provides an insight that is unfamiliar to most of us that aren't from a Jewish background by recognizing the thought/idea that was meant and adding the "shiv'ah". This is similar to how the "edge" was translated as "tzitzit" (the "tassels"/tzitzit from Numbers 15:38+) for the story about the woman healed from bleeding in Luke 8:43+ & Matthew 9:20 (but in Mark 5:25+ there was no "edge" mentioned).

Another thing that I realized (after the discovery about sitting seven, above) is that this is another "4of7". At the end of 4 of 7 mourning days, Lazarus was raised from the dead. The Passover Lamb was set asside for four days (from the 10th to the 14th) before being sacrificed so that its blood could be used to cover the doorframes - the sins of Israel (Exodus 12:3-7). At the end of the 4th millenia (since Adam) of the 7 in the "millenial week", Yeshua/Jesus (our Passover Lamb) was sacrificed for our sins, then raised from the dead.

TODO