Sixteenth Sunday of the Year, 17th July 2022
1st Reading: Genesis 18: 1 – 10. 2nd Reading: Colossians 1: 24 – 28. Gospel: Luke 10: 38 – 42
The central themes of today’s readings are the importance of hospitality in Christian life and the necessity of listening to God before acting. Jesus welcomed and tended to the needs of all, reflecting in his actions the very hospitality of God.
The key to the Christian life is SETTING PRIORITIES: Jesus Christ first, then everything else. The only way really to learn that lesson is to spend some time every day, “sitting at the feet of Jesus.”
Today’s first reading describes how Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality to angels in the guise of strangers was rewarded by God, who blessed them with a son in their old age.
The refrain for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 15) He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord, reminds us of our intended final destination.
In the second reading, Paul declares that he was commissioned by God to minister to the Church, as the revealer of the mystery of salvation and the preacher of the word in its fullness (Colossians v. 25). He invites believers to open their hearts and minds and to show their hospitality to the mystery of Christ which he preaches. Paul also challenges us to cultivate that quality of hospitality which welcomes all others in Christ.
Today’s Gospel passage describes how Martha, a genuine child of Abraham, wanted to extend the traditional generous hospitality of her people to Jesus, the true Messiah, by preparing an elaborate meal for him (while her sister Mary spent her time in talking to Jesus and listening to him; It invites us to serve others with Martha’s diligence after recharging our spiritual batteries every day by prayer – listening to God and talking to God – as Mary did. We can minister truly to the needs of others only after welcoming God’s Word into in our hearts and minds. We need to recharge our spiritual batteries: It is a well-known fact that those who are in the caring professions, like doctors, nurses, pastors, social workers, and even parents, often suffer from burnout and terminal exhaustion as Martha did. People suffering from burnout often end up angry, anxious, and worried. Hence, occasionally we need to put aside the work we do for the Lord in serving others and just spend some time being with Him, talking to Him and listening to Him, fully aware of His holy presence in our souls. We may do the recharging of our spiritual energy also by our personal and family prayers, by the meditative reading of the Bible and by participating in the celebration of the Holy Mass. Christian husbands and wives should develop “couple spirituality” and seek more opportunities to pray together. The Martha and Mary episode teaches us the need for balance between service and prayer and the need for spending time with the Lord, learning from Him and recharging our spiritual batteries with the power of the Holy Spirit. We need listening Marthas and serving Marys: Martha has become a symbol of action-oriented, responsible people who get the job done. Our world needs such men, women, boys and girls, and so does the Church. How would the Church survive if not for the Marthas and Bills who sing in the choir, run the altar guild, work with the homeless, work with the youth, and build the Church? The Church could not exist without them. The same is true with the family. We need responsible people to do the work in the house: to cook, to clean, to keep the house operating, to pay the bills, to keep the cars running, not to speak of rearing the children and loving the spouse. Households can’t survive without Marthas and Bills. Nor can offices, schools or businesses. There is nothing wrong with being a responsible, action-oriented, get-it-done kind of person. But we must find time to listen to God speaking to us through His word, and time to talk to God. Jesus clearly said: be hearers and doers of the word. Jesus never reversed that order. We need to be good listeners, like Mary, at home and in the workplace. Martha has become a symbol of you and me in the modern world. We have become so active and busy with living our lives that we no longer have time to slow down and quietly listen to God, or even to our spouse, kids, or friends. We become so active in doing good things that our activities become a cover-up for our lack of listening and quiet caring. We come home from a day of work and the kids are talking to us at the kitchen table. We nod affirmatively at their words without listening. Our spouse wants to share what has happened during the day and we don’t hear a word that is spoken, being entirely preoccupied with what has happened at our workplace. Human love begins at home, and it begins with listening. The more one listens, the more love grows. The less one listens, the less love there is. This is certainly true in marriage. Any good marriage will show us a man and woman who have discovered what it means to listen to one another. That is also true in good families and in good businesses. We can so easily get the Martha-syndrome because there is always so much work to do: at our place of employment, at home with the kids, out in the yard, at Church and school, at the various groups of which we or our children are a part. But let’s not be like Martha who got distracted with much serving. Rather, let us take time out every day to listen to Jesus, to get to know Jesus better, to be His guest and to welcome Him as ours.