Saturday, July 20, 2013

Homily: 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Martha and Mary and choosing the better part

Last week, from Luke’s Gospel we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan—a powerful story in which Jesus teaches us to go beyond our comfort zones to help others.  Immediately following the parable of the Good Samaritan Saint Luke gives the account of our Lord’s visit to Martha and Mary which we heard this week.

It’s not a coincidence that Saint Luke puts these two stories side by side.  On the one hand we are taught in the Good Samaritan Story followers of Jesus Christ are to go out into the highways, and go and pick up and care for the wounded and those in need. 

On the other hand, what do we learn about discipleship from Mary and Martha?  Martha was busy with all the details of hospitality, and Mary was sitting at the feet of Our Lord, listening to his word.  And it was Mary who was praised by the Lord,  He said, “Mary has chosen the better part”.

 Saint Luke is emphasizing a very important lesson in discipleship, yes we have to care for those in need, yes we have to lift up the wounded, but we cannot lose sight of the one most necessary thing, we must remain grounded by sitting at the feet of Christ.

Pope Benedict took up this lesson in his first encyclical titled, Deus Caritas Est, God is love.  He teaches that no Christian can be exempt from practicing charity—care for those in need is part of our very identity.  But, what makes Christian service different from mere secular service agencies, is that our love of neighbor flows from our love of God.

The Popes of the 20th century, even beginning with Pope Leo XIII at the end of the 19th century, were very prolific in developing the Church’s social teaching, teaching us to be engaged in the social political and economic life of our respective nations, to work for human development, and of course caring for those most in need.

In the 1960s Blessed Pope John XXIII gave us a great method for charitable service, “See—Judge—Act”.  See a need, judge what can be done, and act.  If you see a child fall on the play ground, you judge that you can go over to help him, and you act, you lift him up.  If you see a drunkard on the street begging for money, you judge that it might be better to give him a sandwich or a blanket rather than twenty bucks which he would spend on booze, and then you do it.  See—Judge—Act

Pope Benedict, saw the danger of the Church being reduced to a mere social service institution.  He reemphasized that the primary task of the Church is to proclaim the Faith.

This makes the Church counter cultural. It is a hard job to preaching the Christian Faith in a culture which has abandoned so many of the commandments.  Our “if it feels good do it culture” doesn’t like to hear how abandoning God’s law leads to a crumbling society.  So where do we get the strength, and courage to preaching the Christian faith in the face of such hostility?

So we remain grounded in the truth by following Mary’s example in the Gospel today, sitting at the foot of Jesus, listening to his word.

I’m reminded of a story, from the Missionary Sisters of Charity, the order of sisters founded by Blessed Mother Theresa.  I got to work with the Missionary Sister’s in Rome at a homeless shelter, and also at an orphanage in Madagascar .  One of the charisms of the Missionary Sisters of Charity is to take care of the poorest of the poor.  They would literally lift starving people out of the gutter and give them food and shelter.  Every day, the Missionary Sisters of Charity make a holy hour, they pray for an hour every day, usually around 6am, in front of the blessed Sacrament. 

One day, a young novice goes to Mother Theresa, and says how she thinks the holy hour is a waste of time, there are people starving to death on the streets while the sisters are in the chapel praying.  “Sister, you seem very troubled” Mother said.  “I am, Mother, this holy hour is a waste of time.”  “Because you are so troubled,” said mother Theresa to the young novice, “you need two hours.”

Martha was so troubled, so anxious because she thought Mary was wasting her time sitting at the feet of Jesus.  In rebuking Martha, Our Lord was not criticizing hospitality.  In fact, hospitality is very important, taking care of the needs of your visitors, making them comfortable, making them welcome is a good thing, it is loved by God. 

Our Lord doesn’t say, “Martha, Martha stop being so hospitable” he says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried about Many Things”.  Her heart is not focused on Christ, and her work is not flowing out of her relationship with God.  That’s the problem.

That can be a major problem for us too.  Our lives can be divided into all these different non-interacting dimensions.  There’s my home life, my social life, my private life, my  political life, my medical decisions, my leisure life, my faith life, my job.  But Our Christian faith is the compass meant to guide and direct and unify all of these disparate dimensions of our human activity.

Anyone who has raised children involved in sports, or anyone who works a number of jobs to support their family knows how hard it is to juggle all these things.  .  Anyone who has had family over on Sunday afternoon knows the temptation of skipping Mass in order to prepare for the visit. 

The danger for all of us is making Martha’s mistake, “I’m too busy to pray, too busy to read scripture, too busy to go to mass, too busy to rest on Sunday’s, too busy to make a holy hour, too busy to pray a rosary.” 

A priest was driving Mother Theresa to the airport.  She sat quietly praying her rosary beads, and the priest went on and on about all the new programs they’ve started at the parish, all the places he’s been asked to give lectures, the articles he’s been asked to write for these magazines.  Mother asked him, “when do make time to pray?”  He said, “well….i’m really too busy to pray.” She bluntly said, “Stop it father.  You are too busy, you must pray.”

Jesus teaches, Seek first the kingdom of God.  If we are not putting God first, nothing else will be in it’s proper place, which is why time set aside for daily prayer is so important.

And by the way, Daily prayer for Christians means more than rattling off an “our father” once a day if and when we remember.  We must make time to sit at the feet of Jesus.  To gaze into his eyes, to contemplate His wisdom. 

The Bible is such an important part of this.  Every Catholic should read and reflect on the Bible every day.  Parents can share a bible story with their children before bed, you can read a little scripture on your lunch break, you can read it as you fall asleep instead of watching late-night television.  Read a psalm a day, reflectively, thinking about what it means for your life, in light of your particular challenges.  We must come to value once again substance and spirituality over hype, busyness and entertainment. 


Every day we are faced with the choice to be more like Martha or more like Mary— Busy about all of our worldly pursuits, or drawn deeper into the life and love of God.  Let us renew our commitment today to daily prayer, to seeking the one thing that really matters, Jesus Christ Our Lord, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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