Breaking Open the Word
July 20, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Introduction
What is more important when we welcome a guest, getting about the business of serving them or sitting down so we can listen to them?
In the gospel, Martha and Mary represented the two problems in welcoming people. Martha got busy serving her guests while Mary simply wanted to listen. Harried with the work and frustrated with her sister's lack of help, Martha complained to Jesus. In response, Jesus told Martha to stop worrying and start listening.
Jesus did not reject the need for serving others. Helping guests is the sign of a gracious host. What Jesus did insist upon was balance. There is a time to prepare for guests and there is a time to socialize with them. There is a time to serve and a time to listen. This theme of hospitality is found in our first reading also.
Gospel Explained
Martha and Mary were the sisters of Lazarus, who is usually named last when his sisters are mentioned, suggesting that he was a much younger brother. They lived in the village of Bethany on the east side of the Mt. of Olives, across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem's Temple Mount. These faithful disciples welcomed Jesus into their home. Scripture records that Jesus loved Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus. The Gospels mention three times that Jesus came to visit their family.
In this story, Martha's service was the customary physical comfort offered to an honored guest, and Mary's service was in listening to the Word of God. Martha complained to Jesus that her sister was not doing her part and leaving her to do all the work. In verse 42, Jesus told Martha, "There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her." The "one thing" was being ready and willing to hear the Word of the Lord.
Jesus gently corrected Martha, telling her that while demonstrating the love of a "neighbor" was worthy, it could not be more important than the love of God expressed by listening to "the Word," who is Christ Himself. Priority must be given to hearing the Word; the spiritual work must take precedence.
In what He told Martha; Jesus was breaking with the conventions of His times. In saying that the better choice was hearing the Word, He was saying that a woman's place wasn't always ‘in the kitchen;’ she was equal to men in her obligation to hear and understand the Word of God.
Today's Theme
In our first reading, Abraham looked up and saw three men standing near him while the day was growing hot. Running to greet his visitors, Abraham recognized the manifestation of the Lord God Yahweh and addressed the men in the singular as "My Lord" instead of in the plural "My Lords." The Genesis story seems to identify the three men as Yahweh accompanied by two other "men" who are messengers/angels.
Throughout the narrative, Abraham addressed the three men in both the singular, as though they were one person, and in the plural as though they were three different men. How is it that Abraham was able to recognize he was witnessing a manifestation of God? Jesus said that when you walk with God and live a blameless life before the Lord, you immediately recognize Him when He calls to you: The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
Bowing low before the Lord, a sign of respect, Abraham identified himself as the Lord's servant. God appearing in a visible human form and accepting the hospitality of a man will be repeated in the Gospels when God the Son, fully human and fully divine, eats and drinks with saints and sinners. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2571 says, "Because Abraham believed in God and walked in His presence and in covenant with Him, the patriarch is ready to welcome a mysterious Guest into his tent. Abraham's remarkable hospitality at Mamre foreshadows the annunciation of the true Son of the promise. Once God had confided His plan, Abraham's heart is attuned to His Lord's compassion for men, and he dares to intercede for them with bold confidence.”
God announced that Sarah would give birth to a son the next year, fulfilling the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 15:4. The miraculous birth of a son to Sarah in her barren old age pointed forward in time to a miraculous birth that would forever alter the course of human history: the birth of Abraham's descendant, Jesus of Nazareth. We are reminded in Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Theme in our Life Today
In the ancient world, hospitality was a finely honed art. It has been described as an intricately choreographed dance, which cannot be compared to the relative informality of modern Western practices. In the world of Abraham and of Jesus, hospitality was a carefully structured process whereby outsiders were received and transformed from strangers into guests. Given the harsh conditions of travel at the time, hospitality was not only an art but a necessary virtue, the practice of which assured the survival of those who often found themselves alone in inhospitable environments.
As expressed in first reading from Genesis, it was believed that God’s will could come to light through an act of hospitality. Abraham’s generosity as host to the three travelers was matched by a promise that he and Sarah would become the parents of a son. Because of his exemplary hospitality, Abraham has been featured in rabbinic stories as the founder of inns for travelers and the inventor and teacher of grace after meals.
Believers in Jesus were also schooled in the practice of hospitality; with warm and caring love, Jesus welcomed and tended to the needs of all, reflecting in His actions the very hospitality of God. All four gospels recount Jesus hosting and feeding the multitudes of people who came to hear His teachings. His proclamation of the kingdom was frequently symbolized by images of plentiful food and drink, freely offered at a great banquet presided over by our divine host. He described the coming reign of God as a great home with many mansions wherein all pilgrim disciples would find eternal lodging.
While we await His second coming among us, we who continue to be nourished by Jesus are responsible for continuing His ministry of hospitality. Jesus was not favoring Mary over Martha; nor was He critiquing the differing styles of hospitality offered Him by the two sisters. Through His conversations with Mary and Martha, Jesus is teaching His disciples that those who minister among God’s people must be informed and supported by an active listening to His words. In other words, before we can become authentic disciples, we must first learn to be hospitable hosts and hostesses, welcoming into our hearts and attending to the Good News of salvation. We are not called to be either Mary or Martha; we, who have been offered the very hospitality of Jesus at the table of the Eucharist are called to be both Mary and Martha.
Prepare for Sunday
This Gospel story contrasts two kinds of service to the Kingdom: the physical and the contemplative. We need both Marthas and Marys to advance the Gospel of salvation and the Kingdom of the Church. Reflecting on this passage, we might ask ourselves several questions: How are the Marthas valuable to the Kingdom of Christ? What roles do they fill? Who are the Marys serving the Kingdom? What is the danger in getting so caught up in the Martha service/work side of ministry that the Mary spiritual side of the service/work is lacking or lost? Would you describe yourself as a "Martha” or a "Mary”? God leading us to listen to His Living Word so we can be transformed into both a Martha and Mary.