Homily: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Brothers
and sisters, if there is a perfect model of how we can welcome Jesus, we find
it in the scene of Martha and Mary. Martha is working hard to serve Jesus, while
Mary is seated in front of him, keeping him company and conversing with him,
listening to him and being receptive to his message. Both sisters show important elements for
welcoming Jesus properly: Martha offers her loving service and Mary, her
openness of heart. Let’s look at each of
them a little more closely.
First,
Martha. Martha is active. She is busy with the work that indeed needs
to be done. Nevertheless, her desire for
order doesn't allow her to see her guest's face. In other words, she seems not to see Christ,
who is her guest, but rather a guest, who might as well be anyone, and whom she
must serve, regardless. Maybe she is
already used to having Christ come to her house, so his presence isn't as
meaningful as the first day he came.
The
same thing can often happen to us, right?
We become very caught up with things: entertainment, whims, dreams,
paying attention to others (and particularly to how others are perceiving
us). We think that we have time for
everything and yet we don't know how to rest within ourselves; we look for
external satisfaction without being able to enjoy interior peace. Caught up in the desire to have, to improve
our status, to do things, we lose our interior harmony, our peace of spirit,
our creative silence. Martha’s service
is good, but it has become one-dimensional and so has become an obstacle to her
relationship with others (specifically, in this case, to Jesus).
Mary,
on the contrary, is contemplative. She
prefers to be at Christ's side, listening to him and helping him rest. She was so happy to be in that place that it
didn't even cross her mind that a meal needed to be prepared. She had chosen, as Jesus indicated, the better
part: to be with the familiar guest who is so unique and special; she paid
attention to him as if it were the first time she had encountered him. Food and meals could be had every day, but she
had Christ today.
This
should be our attitude towards Jesus who comes to visit us with love: to welcome
his presence with faith, trust, and love; and then, to receive his message, to listen
to his word, and to ponder about how his word might change us to be like him. To her sister’s credit, Mary must, at some
point, choose to engage in loving service; but the “better part” that she has
chosen is to recognize that our service must begin and continue with a
contemplative gaze on Christ, whom we serve.
The
scene from our first reading is instructive here. We find Abraham attentive, that is, alert and
ready to welcome, and so he responds readily when the three men approach his
tent. It was the hot part of the day and
Abraham could have sought his own refuge to find relief from the heat. Instead, he was found sitting at the entrance
of his tent, in a contemplative state, and thus ready to respond at the arrival
of the strangers.
At
their arrival, he responds readily, rushing towards them to honor them and to
offer them respite from the heat and their travels. Easily, he could have hid in his tent in
order to avoid them and, if the men came to his tent to ask for refreshment, he
could have responded sluggishly, as if it were a great inconvenience. Instead, he honors them by bowing before them
and rushes (with the help of Sarah and the other members of his household) to
provide them with the refreshment that they needed. Even still, his service did not become
one-dimensional: service for service’s sake.
Rather, he remained attentive to the ones whom he served, thus first
choosing the better part.
The
lesson here, of course, is simple: it's worthwhile choosing to be with Christ. In recording this scene for us, Saint Luke
recorded an important lesson that Jesus teaches us. It is this: In our lives, there are many
important things that we must do, many duties to carry out, but we are called
to choose the better part: to stay with Christ. We must begin there so that, when we are
called into service, we may not lose sight of the one whom we serve.
Husbands
and wives, do you look upon your spouse as another Christ and so contemplate on
the gift it is to have him/her with you in your home? Do you readily seek to serve his/her needs as
a welcome guest whom you are honored to receive? Parents, do you see your children as other
Christs, guests sent to be cared for lovingly (even when they behave in
unlovable ways)? Children, do you see
your parents as God to you, the manifestation of God’s loving authority and
providential care, who thus deserve your loving attention and obedience? Brothers and sisters, without this, our
service to others (if we even choose to do it) becomes, like Martha’s,
one-dimensional and nothing more than a burden.
When we begin by contemplating Christ, like Mary, (and by contemplating
those closest to us as other Christs), then our service becomes infused with
love, and thus no longer a burden, but rather a joy.
My
brothers and sisters, we need to have Mary's heart and Martha's hands. Therefore, let us, like Mary, listen
attentively to the word of God and meditate on it in our hearts, learning to
see things from the perspective of eternity. At the same time, let us, like Martha, be
diligent, service-oriented, generous and joyful. The Mass, in fact, provides us the perfect
opportunity to practice this. In each
Mass, we listen attentively to God’s word and meditate on it in our
hearts. Then, we offer Him our service
in the form of the Eucharist: our sacrifice of thanksgiving for the gift of
life and salvation in Christ.
As
we strive to make each Mass an opportunity to welcome Christ into our hearts,
to listen to him and to offer him service, let us ask for the grace to make the
daily events of our lives similar opportunities to welcome other Christs: those
closest to us and those who, in God’s providence, come to us. So that, by our eager (even if imperfect)
response, God’s kingdom may grow among us: and we might be prepared to receive
Christ joyfully when he returns in glory.
Given in Spanish at St. Paul Parish: Marion, IN – July 16th,
2022
Given in Spanish at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish:
Monticello, IN
July 17th, 2022
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