16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Luke 10:38-42
This Sunday’s Readings
First Reading
Genesis 18:1-10a
Abraham entertains three strangers and is promised a son.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 15:2-5
Those who do justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Second Reading
Colossians 1:24-28
The mystery hidden from ages past has now been revealed in Christ.
Gospel Reading
Luke 10:38-42
Jesus visits the house of Martha and Mary.
Background on the Gospel Reading
The story of Jesus in the home of Martha and Mary complements the story of the Good Samaritan, which immediately precedes it in Luke’s Gospel. Both stories are unique to Luke. The story of the Samaritan opens with the words “a certain man.” Today’s reading opens with the words “a certain woman.” The Samaritan is an example of how a disciple should see and act. Mary is an example of how a disciple should listen. Mary, a woman, is a marginalized person in society, like the Samaritan. Both do what is not expected of them. As a woman, Mary would be expected, like Martha, to prepare hospitality for a guest. Here again Jesus breaks with the social conventions of his time. Just as a Samaritan would not be a model for neighborliness, so a woman would not sit with the men around the feet of a teacher.
Both stories exemplify how a disciple is to fulfill the dual command which begins chapter 10—love of God (Mary) and love of neighbor (the Samaritan). These are the two essentials of life in the kingdom. By using the examples of a Samaritan and a woman, however, Jesus is saying something more. Social codes and boundaries were strict in Jesus’ time. Yet to love God with all one’s heart and one’s neighbor requires breaking those rules. The Kingdom of God is a society without distinctions and boundaries between its members. It is a society that requires times for seeing and doing and also times for listening and learning at the feet of a teacher.
Christ the Guest, But not for One Day
Fernando Armellini
Introduction
“For we are strangers before you, settlers only, as all our ancestors were. Our days on earth pass like a shadow” (1 Chr 29:15). The lesson that Israel has assimilated from the experience of the desert is captured in the words of David; he lived in tents, was homeless, asked hospitality from other peoples and often was refused (Num 20:14-21), so he has learned to appreciate the welcome.
Rashi, the famous medieval commentator of the Scriptures, reminded his people: “Even if the Egyptians threw in the Nile our new-born males, we must not forget that they welcomed us in time of need, during the famine in the time of Joseph and his brothers.”
For Christians, hospitality is a reminder of their status as pilgrims in this world. But it recalls them above all that Christ came into the world as an alien: “He came to His own, yet his own people did not receive him” (Jn 1:11). Today he continues to ask for hospitality: “Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my call and open the door, I will come in to you and have supper with you, and you with me” (Rev 3:20). He asks to enter into the life of every person, every society, and every institution.
Jerusalem did not recognize the time and the visitation of her God (Lk 19:44). She remains always hesitant and undecided when Jesus knocks at the door. She hesitates before opening the door because she intuits that his word will eventually upset the whole house. We would prefer, that at least he would not visit some corner. We would like to reserve him for ourselves, leaving him in order according to our liking.
Gospel
When, during the mass, or in a Bible meeting I happen to read this passage, at the end I carefully scrutinize the faces of those present, trying to guess their reactions. I generally see rather embarrassed faces and there I throw out the challenge: “It seems that you do not completely agree with what Jesus said to Martha.”
At this point, the winks, smiles, whispering comments all hostile to Mary begin. The disapproval is unanimous even if one does not have the courage to express it. Someone equally dares to joke: but how can one scold a woman who works and praises a slacker? It is comfortable to sit in prayer while others are busy!
A further complication came from the mystical interpretations of this passage. Some cite this to demonstrate the superiority of the contemplative over active life. It says that the nuns and the monks—who in the peace of their cloisters spend their lives reciting prayers—have chosen the better part. The diocesan priests instead, absorbed by many parish activities and lay people who are dedicated to charitable works, even if they perform sacrifices and renunciations, would be less spiritually perfect.
Understood in this way, the teaching of today’s Gospel—let’s face it—is at odds with that of last Sunday’s. There Jesus praised the Good Samaritan who had been busy, today he seems to offer a woman who does not move a finger to help her sister as a model.
The use of this text to contrast the contemplative life to the active is also due to a mistranslation. In the original Jesus does not say: Mary has chosen the better part, but simply has chosen the good part, that: while Martha gets carried away by agitation, Mary makes the right choice, acts as a wise person. Let’s see why.
Luke likes to present Jesus seated at table in someone’s home. He accepted the invitations of all: those of the “righteous” of the Pharisees (Lk 7:36; 11:37; 14:1) and those of tax collectors and sinners (Lk 5:30; 15:2; 19:6). Today we find him in the house of two sisters.
Martha, the oldest, puts herself to work immediately. Her feminine sensibility suggests that a glass of good wine and a plate of tasty meat, served with kindness, show more affection than any talk for a person. Mary, the youngest, instead of working in the kitchen, prefers to stay seated to listen to Jesus. It is at this point that between the two sisters a quarrel erupts that will end up involving the quest.
Before entering the central theme, we clarify a detail of the story: “Mary sat down at the Lord’s feet to listen to his words” (v. 39). The position taken by Mary disclosed: she sat down at the Lord’s feet. This is not a trivial information, because the original text accentuates the detail: “Mary, who was even sitting at the feet of Jesus.” It is an expression that has a very specific technical value. At that time it served to indicate the inclusion of a rabbi among the disciples. It was applied to those who regularly and officially attended his lectures. In the Acts of the Apostles, for example, Paul proudly recalls, “I was educated in the school of Gamaliel” (Acts 22:3), that is, I was a disciple of the most famous of masters of my time.
Is it strange that Mary is presented as a “pupil” of Jesus? Not for us, but, at that time, no teacher would ever accept a woman among his disciples. The rabbis said: “It is better to burn the Bible that put it in the hands of a woman”; and also: “Women don’t dare to pronounce the blessing before meals”; and then further: “If a woman goes to the synagogue, let her be hidden, not appearing in public.” This mentality was so widespread that it also infiltrated the early Christian communities. In Corinth, for example, it abided for a time, to this standard: “Let women be silent in the assemblies. They are not allowed to speak. If there is anything they desire to know, let them consult their husbands at home. It is shameful for a woman to speak in Church” (1 Cor 14:34-35).
Since this is the mentality of the time, it is easy to understand how revolutionary was the choice of Jesus to welcome also women among his disciples. And while we’re at it, we can recall that even the opening phrase of the story contains the same challenge: “A woman called Martha welcomed him to her house” (v. 38). At that time it was considered highly improper for a man to accept the hospitality offered by women. Perhaps it is not by chance that Luke does not mention his brother Lazarus who is remembered only in John’s Gospel (Jn 11; 12:1-8).
It is the beginning of the new world: all the prejudices and discriminations between man and woman—the legacy of a culture and of pagan inheritance—are denounced and overcome by Jesus.
A second important observation on this v. 39: it does not say that Mary is absorbed in prayer, that she is “contemplating” Jesus, but that she listens to his word. She does not listen to the words, the chatter, but the Word, the Gospel. We cannot, therefore, call on her to justify the devoutness and religious introspection. Mary is the model of those who give priority to listening to the Word.
And now we come to the most difficult point in today’s Gospel: the enigmatic response of Jesus to Martha (vv. 40-41).
If the question is posed in terms of reproach to those who work and praise of the idle it is difficult to agree with Jesus. But is this what he means?
First, it should be noted that Martha is not reprimanded because she works, but because she is agitated, anxious, worried. She is troubled by so many things, and above all, because she is committed to working without having first heard the Word.
Mary is praised, it is true, but not because she is a slacker, pretending not to notice the work in the kitchen. Jesus does not say that Martha is wrong when he reminds her of the concrete commitments; he does not suggest Mary to be crafty and let her sister busies herself all alone. He just says that the most important thing, to which priority should be given—if we do not want to reduce our business to agitation—is listening to the Word.
Let’s make a summary of what we said. We certainly do not care much to know that one day, in the presence of Jesus, the two sisters have bickered. Luke mentions this incident as a lesson of catechesis to Christian communities of the past and of today. He knows that in them there are many people of good will, many disciples dedicate themselves to the service of Christ and the brothers and sisters. They are generous with their time, effort, and money. Yet even in this intense and generous activity, there lurks a danger: that much feverish work is separated from hearing the word, and becomes anxiety, confusion, nervousness, just like that of Martha. Even the apostolic commitment, communitarian choices, pastoral projects not guided by the Word are reduced to vain noises, broken stirring of pots and ladles.
Mary has chosen the good part because she has heard the Word. Even the other Mary, the mother of Jesus, is praised for the same reason: because she was attentive to the Word (Lk 1:38.45; 2:19; 8:21). It is curious: the models of listening to the Word that we get in the Gospels are all represented by women! Could it be because they really are more sensitive and more willing than men to listen to the Master?
The passage ends with the words of Jesus to Martha (vv. 41-42), but it seems unfinished. The dialogue between the two should be continued, but Luke does not report it. He seems to want to draw the attention of his readers to another detail which can go unnoticed: the silence of Mary.
Throughout the story Mary does not say a word, not even to defend herself, to clarify her position or explain her choice. She is silent and it leads to suppose that her silence—a sign of meditation and internalization of the Word—is prolonged even beyond.
It is Martha who now needs to sit at the feet of Jesus to listen to and recover the calm, the serenity and inner peace.
While Jesus and Martha continue to talk, I imagine Mary who, deep in thought, quiet and happy, puts on her apron and takes her sister’s place in the kitchen. Martha is generous, industrious, dynamic, but she made a mistake: she is overworked before confronting the Word.
That night Mary—I think—has certainly worked a lot and so showed that the time devoted to listening to the Word of God is not lost or stolen from the brothers and sisters. Who listens to Christ does not forget the commitment to people: he/she learns to do it the right way … without agitation.
Fernando Armellini
Italian missionary and biblical scholar
https://sundaycommentaries.wordpress.com
NOTHING IS MORE NEEDED
by José A. Pagola
The episode is somewhat surprising. The disciples who accompany Jesus have disappeared from the scene. Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, is absent. In the house of the small village of Bethany, Jesus meets alone with two women who adopt two very different attitudes to his arrival.
Martha, who is without doubt the older sister, welcomes Jesus because she is the head of the household, and she puts herself completely at his service. This is normal. According to the mentality of that time, dedication to the household tasks was the exclusive job of women. Mary, on the contrary, the younger sister, seats herself at Jesus’ feet in order to listen to his word. Her attitude is surprising since she is taking the place usually occupied by a «disciple», a place that only belongs to men.
At some point, Martha, overcome by the work and worn out, feels abandoned by her sister and misunderstood by Jesus: «Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me». Why doesn’t he tell her sister to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me». Why doesn’t he tell her sister to do the tasks appropriate to every woman and stop occupying the place reserved for male disciples?
Jesus’ answer is very important. Luke recounts it, probably thinking about the disagreements and petty conflicts that happen in the early communities when it comes time to share the many tasks: «Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about many things, and yet only one is needed. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her».
At no time does Jesus criticize Martha for her attitude of service, a task that is fundamental in following Jesus, but he invites her to stop being so taken up by her work that she’s in danger of losing her peace. And remember that listening to his Word should be the priority for everyone, including women, and not a kind of privilege for men.
It’s urgent today to understand and to organize the Christian community as a place where the welcoming of the Gospel is taken care of, above everything else, in the midst of the secular and pluralistic society of our times. Nothing is more important. Nothing is more needed. We have to learn to join together as women and men, as believers and non-believers, in small groups in order to hear and share together Jesus’ words.
This listening to the Gospel in small «cells» can be today’s «womb» from which we can go about regenerating the fabric of our parishes in crisis. If the simple people know first-hand the Gospel of Jesus, relish it and appeal to the hierarchy with it, it will pull us all toward Jesus.
Mission as Hospitality, Serving, Contemplation
Romeo Ballan, mccj
Today’s Gospel shows us some precious values.
1. The value of being hóspitable. Jesus appreciated the hospitality of his friends at Béthany, in the house of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, who often welcomed Jesus; He loved to be welcomed by his friends.
I woud like to thank you for welcoming me so kindly and warmly, as you did with Fr Osorio before, and you will do with Fr David next.
2. The value of serving as Martha did to Jesus and his disciples. You also serve your families, your children, other family members and elderly people. You also serve your parish and your village. As we remenbered some weeks ago, the only dress of the disciples is the towel, the apron of service and love, as Jesus taught us in his words and deeds, when He washed the disciples’ feet, “on the night He was betrayed” (Jn 13:5).
3. The value of contemplation: listening to Jesus, seated at His feet, as Mary did, praying and contemplating with a wise heart. As John Paul II wrote: “The missionary must be a ‘contemplative in action.’ He finds answers to problems in the light of God’s word and in personal and community prayer. My contact -says the Pope- with representatives of the non-Christian spiritual traditions, particularly those of Asia, has confirmed me in the view that / the future of mission depends to a great extent on contemplation” (cfr. the Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, n. 91).
4. About some Asean values, during my week’s visit to Vietnam three years ago, I was amazed seeing the faith of some Christians. On Sunday we went to a parish in the countryside to celebrate the Eucharist at 6 o’clock in the morning. Incredible! When we got to the parish before 6, a lot of adult people were leaving the church. Why? Where were they going to? They had already attended the Mass at 4 o’clock in the morning, before they went to work. The Mass at 6 a.m. was for children: we could count more than 1200! Amazing!
5. In Vietnam there are a large number of vocations, both to the priesthood and to religious life, but they suffer from a lack of training structures, formators and leaders, to receive all them. In a seminary near Ho-Chi-Min-City (previously known as Saigòn), I was amazed to see 350 seminarians studying Philosophy and Theology.
6. In my life I have met many holy people, both women and men of God. One of them is certainly the Vietnamese bishop Mgr Francis Xavier Van Thuan. I met him in Rome, after his release from 13 years in prison in Vietnam / and before he died in 2002. He had already been appointed as archbishop of Ho-Chi-Min-City, when the socialist government put him in prison, under tight control.
He wrote about his experiences as a prisoner / in the booklet: Five Loaves and two Fish: The experience of “Living the Present Moment” (in prison you have no other option or chance); “Discerning between God and God’s work”; the experience of “Prayer as a fixed Point of Reference”; the experience of “The Eucharist my only Strength”, as he said.
He writes: “I will never be able to express my immense joy: every day with three drops of wine and one drop of water / in the palm of my hand I celebrated my Mass”.
No vestments, no books, no chalice…: the palm of his hand / was his altar, his cathedral, as he said; a cigarette package was the permanent tabernacle in his shirt pocket! At another time, he could share with other prisoners, some of them were Catholics. “We arranged it so there were five Catholics near me. At 9:30 p.m. the lights were turned off / and everyone had to sleep. I curled up on the bed to celebrate Mass, from memory, and I distributed communion… At night the prisoners took turns for adoration. Jesus, with his silent presence, helped us in a tremendous way… Jesus was among us, He who could heal / all our physical and mental suffering”. In his book / the Cardinal Van Thuan writes often about the risk of mental troubles during his hard passion.
7. Cardinal Van Thuan is already on the way to being canonised. I take him as a heavenly intercessor for our new mission in Vietnam. As I said last Sunday, our presence there / will be low key, hopefully, modest, as a seed, serving the local Church, inspiring and spreading the missionary charism. God knows how to make the seeds become flowers and fruits in His garden.
8. Let’s pray as a community every Sunday for vocations, as Jesus taught us: “The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest / to send labourers to his harvest” (Mt 9:37). Labourers as priests, sisters, missionaries, catechists, Christian faith teachers… Yourselves, parents and grandparents -why not?- pray that the Lord calls some of your children or grandchildren, nephews or nieces, to this special vocation for the good of the entire community in your country and abroad. Let’s help children and sick people / to pray for vocations.
9. Please, let me explain to you -as some have asked me- why I wear a ring on my finger. This is a gift from my mother – her wedding ring. On the day of my Baptism, three days after I was born, when she heard the bells ringing, she asked God that I would become a priest.
10. I leave for this Vietnamese venture – let me say – possibly rather foolishly / as I will be 78 in October. But I go confidently in God, because I didn’t ask for this mission; I was appointed by the Superior General of our Comboni Institute. So I’m sure that God is with us in this new missionary challenge, (as we sing the songs that Mona has chosen for this Eucharist: “Follow me, follow me”; and: “Walk in the light of the Lord”.)
I feel sure that I’ll miss you, but we’ll keep in touch, in prayer and mission commitment. Thank you!
