Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
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Don Fabio's homily follows the Gospel.
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GOSPEL: Luke 10: 38-42
Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered: 'Martha, Martha,' he said 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.'
THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Kieran's summary . . . This Gospel presents us with two radically different ways of living out our Christian vocation. One is the right way, and the other is a way that appears right but is far from it. Mary places herself at the feet of Jesus and listens to him. This is the perfect attitude of a disciple. It is not what we can do for Christ but what he can do for us that matters. Once we have listened to him and received his love, then we are in a position for fruitful activity and our Christian mission. Martha, by contrast, engages in a flurry of activity without ever trying to discern what it is that Jesus wants to accomplish in her. This frenzy of activity is too often the way of many Christians who talk a lot about God but rarely talk to God. How many Christians consume themselves in commendable projects but fail to devote themselves to the task that Jesus wants them to devote themselves to, such as their children, their spouses or their parishes! This is the classic strategy of the tempter: not to make us opt for evil, but to distract us from the good that had been entrusted to us with other good projects that are not ours to do at all. Mary chooses the better part, which is to put her relationship with Jesus first. The good activity that will flow from this relationship will be a thousand times more fruitful than the good things we try to accomplish on our own without placing ourselves first at the Lord's feet.
Sometimes it is the doing of good things that prevents us from doing the greater good.
This Gospel passage presents us with the problem of the anxieties and preoccupations that oppress us on a daily basis. What is the root cause of the fact that we allow these things to weigh on our souls? In the passage, Martha is like Atlas who has taken the weight of the world on his shoulders. She has become completely distracted with the business of welcoming Jesus. What is it that is causing anxiety in the heart of Martha? It is interesting to note that it is not something evil in itself. Sometimes we think the world can be divided into good and evil, and if someone is doing something that is not evil then (we mistakenly think) it should not create an obstacle to his relationship with Jesus. Martha is doing something that seems highly commendable. She is engaging in acts of service for Jesus. But very often it is acts such as these, that seems highly commendable in themselves, that cut us off from the greater good. Jesus says, "Martha, you worry about many things, but few are needed, indeed only one". It is not possible to do everything that we might want to do. It is not possible to be in more than one place at the same time. There are many good things that we can do, but only a single present moment in which to do them. And usually there is only one single thing that I as an individual am called to do in that moment. When we embrace a vocation, it is not simply because that vocation involves doing a particular thing that is good. There are many goods that can be done and many vocations that can be followed. The reason that I pursue my vocation is because it is mine. It is the road that I have been called to follow.
We have been entrusted with a mission to realize a particular good. The strategy of temptation is often to distract us from that good with the frenzied attempt to achieve other goods.
Martha is someone who has been overtaken by the demands of the present moment and has lost sight of her priorities. She has allowed the immediate demands of the situation to have a greater urgency than the things that have been entrusted to her as a person. Her priority should be to try to discern her own unique role among things, instead of allowing anxious events to dictate that role to her. The fundamental strategy of temptation is to take the human being away from what is good, and that is not such a difficult thing to achieve. It is sufficient to distract the person with another good. When a person is doing something constructive, that does no harm to anyone, then he tends to think that he has resolved the problem of the meaning of his existence. All of us fall into this trap regularly. But just because we are doing something that is not bad does not mean that we are doing what is truly ours to do! As Jesus says in the Gospel, "Only one thing is needed".
Mary sits at Jesus feet and listens. This is the classic position of the disciple. Martha takes up another position with respect to Jesus, and it is not the position of discipleship.
The text does not go into details, but Martha is probably doing various acts of service for Jesus. Mary, instead, places herself at the feet of Jesus and listens. This is the classic position of the disciple. Martha takes another stance towards Jesus which, whilst not being wrong in itself, is nevertheless not the correct attitude of the disciple. This scenario allows us to elucidate a principle that is extremely important. When Jesus is around, we must not be preoccupied with what we can do for Jesus, but with what he can do for us! Activity and mission come later. First of all we must place ourselves at the source and fountain of activity and mission. Between Jesus and me there is a relationship of master and disciple, of Lord and the devoted subject who belongs to him. He is my Lord and there can be no other relationship between us. Anything that I do for him must derive from this relationship.
Our lives are often in disarray because we prioritize the wrong goods. Often we consume ourselves with commendable projects whilst neglecting our spouses, our children, our flock!
Very often our lives are in disarray because we place ourselves in the wrong position with respect to life. We assume roles and activities that are not ours. In general, the people on this earth who are in the places that they ought to be and are doing the things that they ought to be doing are relatively few. These are the people who have chosen the better part, the part that will never be taken from them. Most of us take a thousand parts that are not the part of the disciple and that will be stripped away from us in a thousand ways. The battle that confronts us every day is the challenge to remain steadfastly in our places. When we stay in our proper place we are accompanied by grace. When we start to go our own way then we are on our own; we are doing that which has no permanent value and which will be taken away from us. And this is true even for those in church ministry. Lots of people want to do various good projects, but it is not the good that has been entrusted to them. How many men and women are engrossed in commendable projects but fail to look after their own children adequately! Our priority is to learn to live in our own shoes, be ourselves in the presence of God, and appropriate the part that is ours alone.
Acts that spring from authentic discipleship are of a different sort than acts undertaken on our own initiative
This text is a wonderful key to open the secret of how we ought to live our mission. We have a duty to nurture our interior spiritual lives. How many people are unable to rest without doing or worrying about a million different things! This summer presents us with a perfect opportunity for placing ourselves in silence at the feet of Jesus. Too many people are overly active and pray hardly at all. Too many people have a multitude of contacts but virtually no contact with the Lord. Many people talk a lot about God but fail to take the time to talk to God. There is a sacred uselessness about Mary, a holy inactivity that will become the fountain of authentic action springing from the fact of being loved by Jesus. Many acts of service fail to spring from love, fail to spring from having sat in front of Jesus. Acts that arise from this relationship with Jesus are of a different sort altogether. They are solid, based on a genuine foundation, and are directed towards a sure end. The Lord gives us a stark warning in the words that he addresses to Martha. 'You worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one." It is vital that we extract ourselves from the many good things that weigh on our souls and choose instead the better part, the single thing that is essential for our salvation: placing ourselves as disciples at the feet of Jesus.
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