“A woman named Martha welcomed him to her home.”
Martha and Mary were sisters; they were close not only through ties of blood, but also through piety. Both of them were attached to the Lord, and with one heart they served him during the time of his life here below. Martha welcomed him as one normally welcomes a traveler. But it was a servant welcoming her Master, someone who is ill welcoming her Savior, a creature welcoming her Creator… For the Lord wanted to take the form of a servant so that it would be possible for servants to nourish him…
So here we have the Lord being welcomed like a guest. “To his own he came, yet his own did not accept him. Any who did accept him he empowered to become children of God.” (Jn 1:11-12) The servants who had been adopted in this way became his brothers, the captives who had been delivered in this way became his co-heirs. But let no one among you say: Blest are they who had the good fortune of welcoming Christ in their own house! Don’t feel pain, don’t lament for having been born during a period when you can no longer see the Lord in flesh and blood. He has not withdrawn his favor from you, he who said: “As often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me.” (Mt 25:40)