At the Feet of Jesus Attentive

 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Saturday, 16 July 2022

Gn 18:1-10a

Col 1:24-28

Lk 10:38-42

 

Praised be Jesus Christ!

        “There is need of only one thing.” (These are Jesus’ words to Martha from today’s Gospel) “There is need of only one thing.”

When it comes to being a believer, we live in an age when it is rare to encounter people with all the right priorities or who live out the conviction that we as Catholics cannot do less than strive wholeheartedly for personal sanctity. A certain worldliness is all too common not just on TV but even among the real people we might encounter in society and perhaps even in our parishes. From experience, I have to say that sadly I am forever encountering nice people who are basically pretty slack, who in their daily living are less than attentive to the will of the Divine Master. Please note I am not talking about big sinners or some kind of criminals. I am referring to people within the community of the baptized who don’t seem to be enthused, who are not moved by love. What this amounts to is what may be termed lukewarmness and experiencing it in our lives, especially within our own family circle, can be demoralizing for adults and a scandal for children. It is indeed a tragedy to discover that somebody might not be on fire with the love of Christ. I rather suspect that this ambivalence toward virtuous living is what above all else has a negative impact on faith practice among these same Catholics (regarding Mass attendance, regular confession, almsgiving) and what amounts to indifference to Christ is what puts the official Church at a disadvantage when it comes to proclaiming Christ and leading people around us to faith.

Personal sanctity is not optional in the Christian life, and it basically has to do with being personally devoted to the living God, looking for His Face, hanging on His every Word. This insight or intuition is perhaps the primary characteristic of the faith in our times. One of the sustaining pillars of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, as well as of a lot of the popular religious movements in the Catholic Church today, is its message on the universal call to holiness. That is to say not only priests and nuns, but all of the baptized are called to holiness of life. What does that mean really? What does it mean – to be or to become holy? In the words of Jesus Himself from the Gospel: “There is need of only one thing.” Let us discuss the universal call to holiness if ever so briefly from that point of view! In the words of Jesus: “There is need of only one thing.”

        During Ordinary Time the first reading at Sunday Mass from the Old Testament and the Gospel passage which is generally a continuous reading, this year from St. Luke, complement one another in some fashion. This Sunday both offer accounts of table hospitality being offered to God in the context of the family!

In Genesis it is hospitality from Abraham and his wife Sarah shown to strangers passing by. Our father in faith insists that these three rather mysterious men whom we can recognize as God Himself (or as angel messengers from God) stop to rest by Abraham’s tent in the desert. In St. Luke’s Gospel, we learn of the hospitality from Mary, Martha and Lazarus shown by them to God the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Different from Abraham, the brother and his two sisters were dear friends of Jesus the Lord, no strangers at all. Both accounts describe attentive service to the guest, and Luke’s Gospel brings home the fact that what is pleasing to God above all else and useful for salvation is not so much the food service but the attentiveness to the guest which accompanies it: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

        Protocol and hospitality were very much a part of my life as an ambassador, as an apostolic nuncio. We all know there is a proper way to treat a guest. When things are done by the book, a formal dinner or a reception is always an agreeable occasion, but not necessarily very satisfying for the guest of honor. If you are like me all things being equal, you could care less about great food, great drink, and impeccable service, although these things have their place. What makes or breaks an evening at someone’s home or at a certain venue is rather your being invited there to be with a friend or in the case of family with loved ones open to spending time with you. The same is true of God in Christ. He longs for our attention.

        It seems clear enough to me that these Scripture passages are held out for us by the Church in its liturgy to teach us something about how God operates, and above all that He is willing to have contact with us, to show us His will, and to answer our prayers. The Genesis passage is interesting in that regard. “They asked Abraham, ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ He replied, ‘There in the tent.’ One of them said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.’”

        Abraham certainly did not have any ulterior motive in welcoming the three men to rest in the shade by his tent. As it turned out, his generous step in their direction was all that was needed to open the way to the fulfillment of God’s promise of descendants to Abraham and Sarah. “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”

        Jesus taught that the Great Commandments, the fulfillment of God’s Law, are two. First: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength! And secondly: You shall love your neighbor as yourself! Isn’t it strange how something as simple and natural, even if perhaps today uncommon, as hospitality can so work as to dispose us to enjoy God’s good favor and thereby open us up to a sharing in His righteousness?

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” No doubt Martha’s concerns about hospitality were correct and pleasing to God for His own good purposes. We read about the traditional understanding of the importance of hospitality in the Letter to the Hebrews 13:1-2: “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” But somehow in her frantic chasing around Martha missed the heart of the matter, namely attentiveness to Christ, that one thing needed to make all the difference. Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus was engrossed in Him, attentive to Him. The food and drink were fine, but ultimately secondary to this encounter. Jesus said as much to His disciples about His encounter with the Samaritan woman from John 4:31-34.   Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.

        Jesus wants Martha to stop fussing and to open wide her heart to Him as had Mary. Would that we could do the same! “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

        Praised be Jesus Christ!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI