Sunday 17 July 2022 in the year of our Lord
1. Who are you in this gospel? Are you like Martha, who is anxious and worried about many things or are you lilke Mary who sits at the feet of the Lord listening to his word?
2. Why in your opinion listening to the word of Jesus is more important than serving him?
| Lk 10:38-42 | Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον 10:38-42 |
| Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." | 38Ἐν δὲ τῷ πορεύεσθαι αὐτοὺς αὐτὸς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς κώμην τινά· γυνὴ δέ τις ὀνόματι Μάρθα ὑπεδέξατο αὐτόν. 39καὶ τῇδε ἦν ἀδελφὴ καλουμένη Μαριάμ, [ἣ] καὶ παρακαθεσθεῖσα πρὸς τοὺς πόδας τοῦ κυρίου ἤκουεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ. 40ἡ δὲ Μάρθα περιεσπᾶτο περὶ πολλὴν διακονίαν· ἐπιστᾶσα δὲ εἶπεν· κύριε, οὐ μέλει σοι ὅτι ἡ ἀδελφή μου μόνην με κατέλιπεν διακονεῖν; εἰπὲ οὖν αὐτῇ ἵνα μοι συναντιλάβηται. 41ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ κύριος· Μάρθα Μάρθα, μεριμνᾷς καὶ θορυβάζῃ περὶ πολλά, 42ἑνὸς δέ ἐστιν χρεία· Μαριὰμ γὰρ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται αὐτῆς. |
Fr John Lankeit's homily :
You may have heard the term “armchair quarterback” before without knowing what it actually means. But before defining that term here, let’s take a look at the first part of today’s Gospel passage:
Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” (Lk 10:38-40)
We know that Jesus gently admonished Martha during this visit. Because of that, we can be quick to criticize and condemn her—while missing the point that we...are...Martha...more often than we realize...or, if we do realize it...more often than we care to admit.
Now...an “armchair quarterback” is “someone who doesn’t participate in [a situation] but still makes judgments about it”. The trap in “armchair quarterbacking” this particular Gospel encounter is that we deceive ourselves if we don’t think we often behave in the very same way as Martha—even if we don’t do it, specifically, in the context of cooking a meal or providing hospitality. The context may be different, but our behaviors and attitudes are quite often identical to Martha’s.
Here’s a very common example:
A modern-day Catholic goes through all the motions and keeps all the rules strictly—just like Martha strictly kept the social rules of her time for providing hospitality to a guest. This Catholic person does what they’re “supposed” to do and then gets upset with Jesus for not rewarding them in the way they think they deserve for keeping the rules. In our day, it can sound something like this:
“I pray... I go to Mass... I tithe... I follow all the rules... and do everything I’m supposed to do... and Jesus still doesn’t answer my prayers! Why bother? He doesn’t care.”
We can learn a great deal about why such an attitude is toxic by contrasting Abraham’s actions in our 1st Reading with Martha’s actions in our Gospel passage. The contrast helps us understand why Jesus called sitting at his feet and listening “the better part” (cf. Lk 10:42).
In our 1st Reading God appeared to Abraham. Now, before we consider the important aspects of Abraham’s approach to hospitality, let’s notice some important things about God here in the very first Book of the Bible.
The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: “Sir, if it please you, do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest under the tree. Now that you have come to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way.” “Very well,” they replied, “do as you have said.” (Gen 18:1-5)
Here we read that “the LORD appeared to Abraham” yet, when Abraham looked up, “he saw three men”. He called them “Sir” (not “gentlemen”)...and then spoke of them “refresh[ing] yourselves”. A rather strange mix of singular and plural in reference to God...isn’t it?
Now, going back 17 chapters in the Book of Genesis—when God was about to create man—he said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...” (Gen 1:26).
If God is talking to himself, then why did he say “us” and “our”?
Either God is Gollum from the Lord of the Rings, or God is both singular and plural at the same time. In other words, we have here the first Scriptural intimations of God as a Trinity—one God in three Persons—even though many centuries would pass before the Catholic Church formally defined God as Triune.
Authentic Christians believe and profess the Trinity even though the word “Trinity” never appears in the Bible. The very acceptance of God as a Trinity by non-Catholic Christians is, then, an implicit acknowledgement of the Catholic Church’s God-given authority to interpret Scripture.
The Protestant affirmation of God as Trinity also debunks Sola Scriptura—the “scripture alone” doctrine of the Protestants—because devout Protestants embrace a revealed truth about God that is not explicitly mentioned in the very scriptures that they claim must say things explicitly in order for them to be true. Now, I’m not slamming Protestants here, but merely pointing out the incoherence of a foundational doctrine of Protestantism.
Now, let’s return to our comparison of Abraham and Martha on the question of serving the Lord. Whereas Martha just sprang into action and started serving Jesus; Abraham asked God ahead of time if the way he—Abraham— planned to serve the Lord, was pleasing to the Lord.
There’s a modern-day version of the “Abraham method of hospitality” that I really appreciate. It’s when I visit someone’s home and they ask me if I would like something to eat or drink—and allow me to accept or decline—rather than just serving me something to eat or drink and then being offended if I don’t eat or drink it all.
I do, of course, recognize that there are deep cultural and social dynamics at work in such acts of hospitality, but I nevertheless appreciate the courtesy of being asked rather than being expected to do something, and then being made to feel uncomfortable for not doing what the host expected.
We see this in spades with Martha:
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” (Lk 10:40)
Martha not only complained about her sister’s behavior, she also accused Jesus of indifference...and then told him what to do!
Here’s the bottom line:
Abraham PRO-posed...Martha IM-posed and Mary RE-posed.
And Jesus said that Mary’s decision to repose—to sit at his feet and listen—was “the better part”. It’s the difference between listening to Jesus and asking him what he wants, versus imposing what we want on him and then resenting him for not bowing to our will!
There’s another important consideration for us today—especially in our world dominated by smart screens. In the New American Bible translation of today’s Gospel passage—the translation used for the Catholic Lectionary—Martha is described as being “burdened with much serving”.
The Revised Standard Version—Catholic Edition Bible translation of this exact same verse says that Martha was “distracted with much serving”.
When I gave up Facebook and Twitter several years ago, I discovered that being free from social media made me smarter and helped me to pray better.
Why?
Because the smart phone, in general...and social media, in particular, train a person to be constantly distracted—to be unable to concentrate for more than a few seconds without needing another distraction—another text, another email, another electronic affirmation.
Constant use of the smartphone and social media makes it nearly impossible to get the brain to focus on anything of substance for any extended period of time...including prayer.
In a similar vein, constant activity also makes it difficult if not impossible to hear the Lord’s voice. I feel particularly sorry for kids these days whose parents so overload their kids’ calendars with sports and other extracurricular activities that the kids never get a chance to just be kids...never get a chance to just play...let alone to pray.
This excessive activity trap even applies to working for God. For example, when people tell me they missed Sunday Mass because they were working a parish event or attending a Catholic conference, I just stare at them...dumbfounded.
What good is it, after all, to know about God or to convince yourself you’re serving him...but then not spend time with him at Mass... on his day...Sunday?
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said:
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Lk 6:46-49)
Any activity—even a Catholic activity—that keeps us from sitting at the Lords’ feet at Sunday Mass and listening to him is worthy of the same disdain as Martha’s self-serving service to Jesus.
In our 2nd Reading, St. Paul wrote to the Colossians of...
...God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones... (Col 1:25-26)
How is the hidden mystery of God manifested to his holy ones?
By listening to the still small voice (cf. 1 Kg 19:12) of God, spoken in the quiet intimacy of our hearts—which we will only hear if we choose the “better part” and resist the temptation do things our way...and then expect the Lord to conform.
Abraham served the Lord according to the Lord’s desires. He knew what to do because he first asked the Lord what he wanted of him. And to his great surprise, God gave him an even greater gift. A child...a son...an heir through which God’s promise to him to make him a great nation would be fulfilled. If we want to hear God’s voice...if we want to receive his blessings...then, we have to stop, sit and listen to him, most especially in his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament—during Sunday Mass—and as often as possible at other times during the week.
If we habitually choose “the better part”, then God will give us the best part—the fulfillment of the deepest desire of our own heart—a unique, tailormade desire that he put there in the first place—and the fulfillment of which will always bring us the greatest joy.
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