SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[cappie]

We are on a journey with Jesus here.  St. Luke has emphasized that this journey with its destination of Jerusalem is crucial for understanding the ministry of the Lord along with the ministry of those who are called to follow him.  And along the way, St. Luke provides us with all sorts of variations on the hospitality that will, or will not, be extended to Jesus, and to those whom the Lord’s sends out.  The types of reception extended to Jesus along this journey range from the amazing, to an abrupt rejection by the Samaritans as Christ was passing through their land.  The sending of the seventy by the Lord makes clear the connection between the hospitality offered to those who bring the Good news and that message of Good News.  To reject the one who brings the gospel is to reject the gospel; if the One who is the Good News of God is welcomed, then their proclamation of the reign of God is also welcomed.  Reject the Messenger and reject the Good news, either that or welcome both.

It's on this journey, Jesus enters a village where a woman named Martha was mistress of the household.

It’s a brief story, and Jesus delivers the punch line: “Martha, Martha,” he tells his hostess. “You are worried and distracted about many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it shall not be taken from her.” Everything, therefore, hangs on the one thing that Jesus mentions, the one thing that Mary has chosen and apparently her sister, Martha, has not.

 What makes Mary of Bethany an example is not that she sits at the feet of Jesus. What makes her sister Martha need her example is not that she labours to accommodate others. What’s at stake lies elsewhere. A contemporary name for it is spirituality. Spirituality takes many forms. It does not have to be: emotional rather than reasonable, extroverted rather than introverted, or contemporary rather than traditional. What makes someone’s spirituality passionate is prayer, enthusiasm, and boldness. People of spirituality live committed lives. They practice their faith with joy and enthusiasm, it can spill out through service or study or devotion. It can be apparent in whatever one does.

The problem with Martha is not her hospitality. It is how she does not let her hospitality become a channel for her spirituality. Instead, she becomes distracted and complains to Jesus about her sister rather than speaking directly to her sister. While Mary listens to Jesus, Martha presumes to tell him what he must do. It appears that Martha is driven by duty rather than happiness. She may be an effective organizer, a great cook, conscientious in all that she does, but she is simply responsible, not inspired, even on the day when Jesus himself comes to dinner. She may even be busy and anxious in an effort not to have to hear what Jesus is saying.

What makes Mary an example is not the simple fact that she listens to Jesus, but that she does so in a way that is passionate and bold. Jesus does not so much commend her behaviour as the spirit behind it. Mary chooses to take some risks. She takes the chance of upsetting her sister: Mary’s not helping, she’s listening. She also risks upsetting plenty of people because she takes the role of disciple, sitting at the teacher’s feet. This is not something women in her society do. It’s a role reserved for men. Still, that’s where she places herself, or rather, where the Spirit leads her.

 How then does it come about? Spirituality is more God’s gift than it is anything we do. It’s more for us to welcome than for us to achieve. It results from a series of conversions. Each of us is called repeatedly, invited to turn away from something and toward something else. The conversions that occur in our lives may cause us to turn toward God, toward Christ, toward the Church, toward the poor, toward a life of prayer, toward a certain form of service, toward the world that God loves. These conversions and still others can happen to us in any sort of order, and any of them can occur more than once.

Each of us is invited many times to turn in a new direction. Passionate spirituality happens again and again when we answer these calls. We cannot make these calls happen. But we can leave ourselves undefended so that we can hear such a call when it does sound forth. Spiritual practices, properly understood, are to a large degree a form of listening.

In this way, prayer, scripture, receiving communion, helping those in need, going on a retreat, these practices and many others are ways for us, like Mary, to sit at Jesus’ feet as a disciple and hear what he wants to tell us.

 Jesus promises that we will never regret spending time with him. I try to remember that promise whenever I feel unmotivated to pray. 

The Lord does far greater things for us than we could ever do for him. The Lord claims us as his own in the waters of baptism. He blesses us with the gifts of the Spirit in confirmation. He feeds us with consecrated bread and wine that draw us into a “holy communion” with him and his Church. He forgives our past and offers us a new start in the sacrament of penance. He comes to comfort us as we are burdened with sickness, discouragement, and despair. He embraces and affirms us with a love so great that it leads him to lay down his life for us. While Christianity does involve doing things for God, Christianity is first and foremost about appreciating what God has done and continues to do for us. Mary would tell us that’s the truth.