SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
17 JULY 2022
Last
Sunday, we heard Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells that parable to explain the
importance of the commandment to love our neighbor. He broadens the definition of “neighbor” to
anyone whom we encounter who needs our help.
He shocks his original audience by introducing a hated and uncouth
Samaritan as the one who acts as neighbor to the victim of violence. He challenges us to take risks and do the
same.
Today,
Saint Luke focuses our attention on the first of those two commandments: to love God.
Jesus goes to Bethany, the home of his good friends, Martha, Mary, and
Lazarus. Like Abraham and Sarah, Martha
is busy preparing an elaborate feast to welcome him. Mary, on the other hand, sits beside the Lord
at his feet listening to him speak. When
Martha complains that she needs her sister to help her in the serving, the
original listeners would have expected Jesus to agree and send Mary to the
kitchen. After all, that is where women
are expected to be working. Only men are
allowed to sit at the feet of wise teachers and listen to their wisdom. But, just as Jesus shocks the original
listeners with the introduction of the hated Samaritan, he shocks them here
also. He defends Mary’s decision to sit
beside him at his feet and listen to him.
He says that Mary has chosen the better part, and he will not take it
from her.
Over the
centuries, too many people have used this parable to contrast the active life
of believers with the contemplative life of those hidden in monasteries. However, that reading is far too simplistic
and not helpful to us who hear this Gospel today. Let’s face it. Most of us are like Martha – involved in the
active daily life of providing for our families and committing to ministries of
service to those who are neighbors. We
know that Jesus would have gone hungry if Martha had joined her sister in
sitting at his feet. Our families and
our parish would be neglected if we failed to be actively involved in providing
for them.
But this
Gospel is giving a warning to us Martha types.
Jesus very gently addresses her as “Martha, Martha,” telling her that
she is anxious and worried about many things.
The same can happen to us in our active service. We can become so engaged in our work and in
our service that our anxieties and worries can cause us to forget that we
cannot love our neighbor on our own. We
must step back from our activities and do what Mary does: to sit beside the Lord and listen to him
speak. That is why we are gathered here
every Sunday. We listen to him speaking
to us in the Word. We express our
gratitude for all that he has given us, especially the sacrificial gift of
himself to us. We are nourished by the
Eucharist and sent back into our active lives.
We learn from our own experience that we need to carve out time during
the week to spend time in quiet, reflective prayer.
Martha
eventually learned this lesson. In the
Gospel of Saint John, Martha is a leader of the Christian Community. When Jesus comes to Bethany to raise her
brother from the dead, she listens to what he says. She readily embraces his message that he is
the resurrection and the life. We can
grow in that same understanding. Without
sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to him, we can burn out in our
activities. We can become bitter and
resentful when others do not work as hard as we do, or when others do not share
our same commitments. We can learn what
Saint Paul learned. The Lord has
manifested himself to all of us, men and women, Jews and Gentiles, rich and
poor, calling us to love God and our neighbor.
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