Homily, 15th Sunday Ordinary Time, C
Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr., St. Joseph's, Dalton, GA
“Martha, Martha, you are upset and anxious about many things; one thing only is required. Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it.”
The Gospel today gives us a beautiful contrast between two types of people: on the one hand, the Martha’s of the world who are busy with all the worldly concerns that our Lord calls us to be occupied with - welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked; and on the other hand, the Mary’s of the world, who are more contemplative, given to quiet reflection and the inner life of prayer.
Martha was busy with all the details of hospitality, Mary with resting at the Lord’s feet and listening to his words. Yet both these things are clearly good. God needs the Martha’s of the world as much as he needs the Mary’s of the world. Yet Jesus said that Mary had “chosen the better part.” Why is this? It’s not that Martha had chosen something bad, in fact, she was doing as our Lord had commanded, but it’s simply that Mary had chosen better. Why? Because what Mary chose will last forever. Martha’s work will come to an end. What she was doing would pass away, while Mary was anticipating the life to come, the goal to which we strive and to which all our work on earth is directed.
Martha was troubled with a myriad of details, Mary was delighting in her Lord. Martha was on the journey, Mary had reached the destination. Martha was on the pilgrimage, Mary was enjoying the Promised Land.
St. Augustine would put it this way, “Martha... when you have reached the Promised Land, will you find a stranger whom you may receive into your house? Will you find any hungry, for whom you may break your bread? Or the thirsty, to whom you may hold out your cup? The sick whom you may visit? The imprisoned whom you may set free? The dead whom you may bury? None of these will be there, but what will be there? What Mary has chosen. For there we shall be fed, and shall not feed others.” (Sermon 103, NPNF, v.6, p. 428)
On that day, what Mary had chosen was to have a foretaste of the life to come. She would have to go back to work soon enough, for our Lord was on his way to Jerusalem, where he would be lifted up on the Cross for our sins. Perhaps that’s why Mary chose to sit at our Lord’s feet that day. She knew that he would not be with them much longer. Yes, they would be reunited in Paradise one day, but in the meantime, she wanted a little rest and comfort listening to the Lord’s words - some strength for the long journey ahead. So our Lord was not so much rebuking Martha for her work, for indeed it was good, but he was reminding her of her final goal, her reason for the work.
So, what about us? In a sense, we are called to be both Martha and Mary. If we do not respond to the Lord’s call to serve our neighbor, then we will not receive the gift of eternal life. If we are so focused on heaven that we neglect the poor and needy, then we have missed the very point of heaven. But, if we do not take some time to spend with the Lord, we may lose sight of our heavenly destination. We may make the mistake of thinking we can build up treasure here and now, a heaven on earth through our own hands.
So, how do we do this? How can we be both Martha and Mary? One of the common problems we face today is the widespread belief that religion is something incompatible with daily life, as if we take our religion in small doses - an hour on Sundays, a few private prayers during the week, maybe a prayer or two before we go to bed. But, we must realize that God is always present, in the midst of everything that we do. So we must integrate our prayer and work and make our work holy, sanctifying ordinary things. We can encounter God in the midst of our daily work and by means of our daily work, not in spite of it.
To be like Mary, we must put aside some time each day to spend with the Lord in prayer. And how do we do this in the midst of this busy world? Well, it’s easier than you think. When I was working in Florida I discovered a neat little trick that did wonders for my spiritual life: I turned off the radio on the way to work, and that gave me a full half-hour every morning to pray. Too often we surround ourselves with noise to distract us - radio, Television, whatever.
To be like Martha, we have dedicate ourselves to our work, but do one additional thing. In the midst of our work and daily life, we must listen to the Lord and be aware of his presence. Perhaps the reason Jesus rebuked Martha was that she was so busy with all the details of hospitality that she forgot that Jesus was in the same room. Perhaps if she had just slowed down a bit, she would have been able to listen to Jesus or even speak to him, in the midst of her work. And we can do the same, for we are always in the presence of the Lord.
When I would drive to work in Florida, there was a little sign outside a church that I would pass everyday, and it said very simply, “God speaks to those who take the time to listen.”
Jesus said to Martha, “only one thing is required.” And that one thing is Jesus himself. If we are aware of his presence now and respond to his call, then we have chosen the better portion, and, in the life to come, we shall never be deprived of it.
