Mary and Martha Revisited

1) Today’s readings lead me to ask three questions as a disciple
   a) Do we recognize whom we are serving?
   b) Why do we serve?
   c) What is our first priority as disciples?
2) In our culture, technology allows us to screen the various encounters we may have during a day.
   a) With the aid of caller id, answering machines, receptionists, and security cameras, we can make judgments about an encounter and choose whether or not we want to have it.
   b) Understandably, we assume we know what an encounter may bring based on previous experience
      i) Making such judgments is not necessarily a bad thing, but we must be careful that we do not therefore miss an opportunity to bless someone by being present to them when they need us
      ii) Abraham did not have luxury of screening his encounters as we do today, but perhaps that was a blessing in his case.
   c) When his mysterious guests arrived, Abraham was sitting in the entrance to his tent (perhaps enjoying a breeze in the shade on a hot day)
      i) he put aside his own comfort and “he waited on them”
      ii) great effort in serving the strangers, a meal made with “fine flour”, a “tender, choice steer”, and “curds and milk”
      iii) Even at this point in the passage it is not apparent to us or to Abraham who these strangers are
      iv) Context is always important. From the second part of this chapter which you can read in Chapter 18 of Genesis, we know that one of visitors is the Lord, and the others are angels who enact judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.
   d) Let us couple Abraham’s example with the teachings of our Lord and the Apostle Paul:
      i) Matthew 25: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
      ii) Colossians 3: “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others”
   e) In the light of Christian revelation, the answer to the question, “Do we know whom we are serving?” is clear:
      i) regardless of whom we encounter we are serving the LORD;
      ii) therefore, every encounter is an opportunity to receive the Lord as our guest and an opportunity to present the Lord to another and be Christ for another
3) Why do we serve?
   a) Turning back to our second reading from Colossians, we find the very reason we seek to serve and suffer anything on behalf of or for the sake of anyone in the name of Christ
      i) The Apostle Paul states: “in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, the church, to bring to completion for you the word of God”
   b) With Saint Paul, we rejoice in our suffering because we know and believe that the Christian revelation is the Truth, not just one truth among many equally valid truths
   c) we desire to see more and more people enter the Church because we know and believe that Christ is not just any man
      i) The son promised to Abraham in today’s first reading was just the beginning of the plan of salvation, a foreshadowing
      ii) Jesus is the true SON, the completion of that promise for the salvation of the whole human race, not just the people of Israel
   d) as Paul says, that which was hidden is now revealed for us.
      i) It is a mystery that is revealed not only FOR us and TO us, but by our participation in the Church and the sacraments, that salvation, our Lord and God, now dwells IN us!
   e) And that indwelling is our hope of glory!
      i) A hope which compelled Saint Paul and compels us to “proclaim Him, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present EVERYONE perfect in Christ” (NOT just ourselves)
      ii) WHAT A MOTIVATION we have!
4) Proper motivation and enthusiasm come from the regular practice of our first and foremost priority as disciples of Christ
5) So, THIRDLY, What is that priority?
   a) In today’s Gospel, we first meet Martha, who welcomed Jesus into her home and began serving, preparing a meal and waiting at table
   b) Then we are introduced to her sister Mary “who (taking the posture of a disciple) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak”
   c) It appears that Martha, as a good Jewish woman, is doing exactly what her Father Abraham had done in our first reading; and strangely, the Lord rebukes her.
   d) Jesus’ gentle rebuke to Martha reminds us of two things:
      i) that our service must first be formed with the proper motivations
      ii) that we risk missing the divine in the everyday demands of life
   e) If we contrast Martha’s behavior to that of Abraham we will notice that while Abraham is concerned only for the well-being of his guests, Martha speaks only of herself: “Tell her to help me,” she says
      i) I want to avoid reading too much into Martha’s motivations, but as we ought to do when reading scripture, I allowed it to provoke a question within me: What might my motivations be in the same situation?
         (1) Desire for notoriety, of having a famous prophet in my home?
         (2) Pride of being an excellent host a good chef, of being complimented for my service?
      ii) In my meditation I also wondered, “How many of us have embarked upon a project without fully estimating the cost and then sought to be bailed out like Martha?” Crying to God and demanding help.
   f) How often do our days and weeks go by with school, with work, with family, housework, and activities and we wonder, “Where did that day go? Where did that week go?”
      i) We find ourselves at Church on Sunday and we may discover it is the only hour of the week we spend in the presence of God.
         (1) Even while we are here our minds may be anxious about many things
         (2) With all that is going on, it’s not difficult to be distracted at mass – I have found myself planning the day, preparing for an event, thinking about work; and I have to bring myself back to what I am to be doing here, sitting at the feet of Jesus
      ii) At times like these we must listen to the words of Jesus again, but let us substitute our own names for Martha’s name:
         (1) “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
         (2) (Pause)
         (3) “GREGORY, GREGORY, you are anxious and worried about many things.
         (4) There is need of only one thing.”
   g) When Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part (portion) he is telling all of us, that the first and best priority in our lives is a real and intimate relationship with God.
      i) Jesus is the really the host in Martha’s house – recall how in Matthew 20 he tells us that he came “not to be served, but to serve"
      ii) Remember our first question: DO WE RECOGNIZE WHOM WE ARE SERVING? WHO IS IN OUR PRESENCE?
         (1) Ultimately, to be a disciple we must be both Mary and Martha, but in the right order
         (2) First, with Mary, we sit at the feet our Lord, the Master Servant
         (3) We listen, learn, worship, and prepare
         (4) Properly prepared, we then serve in His presence with the proper motivations, so that others may take their turn at his feet
      iii) Martha has an opportunity here: Her service allows Mary to rest at the feet of Jesus.
      iv) When we serve, do we see that same opportunity?
         (1) When we agree to be greeters at mass, or lectors, cantors, and extraordinary ministers; when children become altar servers and when parents volunteer to work with Children’s Liturgy;
         (2) when we cook a meal for someone, or care for the needs of other,
         (3) we do so because we have spent time at the feet of Christ and we desire to allow and enable others to sit His feet, that they may have rest and fellowship with God and others.
6) Christians!
   a) Let us recognize whom we serve
   b) Remember why we serve
   c) And may we always choose the better part

Who Then Is This?

At least once a year, at Christmas or Easter, it seems like some new article or news program attempts to define for us who Jesus really was in contrast to what the Church teaches. And though we can fault them for any biases they inject into their productions, we cannot fault them for asking the question "Who is Jesus?", because it is a perennial question. Since returning to the Catholic faith, I have not tired of asking this question, and I would suggest that, whether we know it or not, we all have asked ourselves this question to some degree or another at multiple points in our life.

Like the disciples in today's gospel, we are challenged in our understanding of who Jesus is in the midst of trials, tribulation, or suffering; and, depending on what kind of relationship we have with him, we may come to different answers. For example, the disciples had clearly been formulating an opinion about Jesus from the miracles he performed during the days, weeks or months preceding this day when they crossed to the other side of the sea of Galilee. I am sure that, by this time, they had pretty high hopes for this Jesus whom they were following. After all, a voice from heaven declared that he was "my Beloved Son" and even the demons which he cast out called him "the Holy One of God"!

Then comes the storm. Now, sudden storms like this are not uncommon on the Sea of Galilee, so it may not have been a surprise to the disciples, but what made this storm different in their minds was who they had in the boat with them. We need to consider that in the ancient near east in the time and place of the disciples, storms were depicted as manifestations of evil and chaos. In addition, we are familiar with the ancient misconception that an unfortunate death implied that you were a sinner or cursed and forsaken by God. Taken altogether, is it any wonder why the disciples asked Jesus, "Do you not care that we are perishing?" I can hear the unspoken questions they asked themselves. "What will the world think of us if we perish this way? We thought he could be the messiah! Doesn't he care?! His reputation is on the line. Our reputation is on the line! Is he not who we thought he was?" This storm then posed more than a physical threat, it was an attack on their hope, on their concept of who Jesus was; and they were afraid.

How many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, have questioned God in this manner? Haven't we wondered or cried out in the midst of our suffering or some other crisis: "Where are you? Don't you care? Do you even exist?" How many of us have asked. "What have I done to deserve this?" or "ls this how you treat those who love you?" These are fair questions and they are not new. They proceed from every human life and they demand an adequate answer; but, continuing to be honest with ourselves, under what conditions do we ask these questions? Are we in a regular daily conversation with God, or is this the first time in months that we sought his attention? Do we really have a relationship with the Lord, or do we only turn to him in our distress, and then only to be angry with him? Am I faithfully visiting him at Sunday Mass and adoring hini in the Blessed Sacrament? Do I go to penance regularly? Do I pray to him daily?

If my answer to these questions is "no", then it is my faith that is asleep in the storm, not the Lord. But, what if I have been doing all those things and I still cry? Am I wrong? In such circumstances, I would say that I was like Job. Job was a very righteous and holy man who suffered without cause simply because Satan desired it. God permitted Job to suffer greatly and Job basically asked "Where are you? Don't you care? Do you even exist?" Job wanted to be vindicated. He wanted to know why he was suffering when he had done nothing wrong. He didn't believe God would
allow such a thing to occur. He had an idea of who God was, but his image of God was incomplete. Yet, an amazing thing happened in the midst of Job's suffering. God revealed himself to Job! Job thought he knew God, but his concept of God was challenged when tragedy struck. Thus confronted, he had to come to terms with Who God really was. At the end of his suffering, Job saw that God's ways were far beyond his human understanding and was humbled, but more importantly he was moved toward a clearer understanding of Who God is.

The same opportunity can be found in the midst of our tragedies; thus when we are finished asking our questions, the Lord rightfully asks us like he asked the disciples: "Why are you so terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" Beyond a mere chastisement, Jesus' response prompts us to evaluate the status of our ordinary everyday faith in God. Jesus demonstrates the type of faith we ought to have. He is asleep in the boat while everyone else was panicking. It is the kind of faith called "Abandonment to Divine Providence", in a book of the same name by Jean Pierre de Cassaud. A compelling title. It clearly reflects what we see in Jesus' behavior during the storm.

Jesus can sleep because has an eternal perspective. He knows that whatever happens to us has already been known to the Father and whatever the outcome may be, God has accounted for it and has a plan to redeem it even when we do not understand it. We very often speak as if God is only seeing the events of our lives as they happen to us, and that he does not or cannot take action until we are in the midst of them. We must remind ourselves that God is eternal and outside of time. He is totally timeless and time is just another of his creatures. Knowing this enabled Jesus to keep his human will completely disposed to the will of the Father. As he says in John 5:30 "I can do nothing on my own authority...I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

We, too, must strive to develop this attitude of abandonment in which we realize that no tragedy that befalls us has to be a cause for fear or doubt, but for absolute trust in God who from all eternity has seen and known and provided an answer for us in the Person of Jesus. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1009 states:

"Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father's will. The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing."

And so, "Who is this then that even the wind and the waves obey him?" He is an eternal Answer to the question posed by each and every human life.