OT XVI [C] Gn 18:1-10a; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42

There is a story about a man who was preparing his favorite breakfast of hot oatmeal when his daughter came rushing in with his little four-year-old grandson. “The babysitter has been delayed,” she explained, “and I’ve got to go to work. Will you keep Bobby for a few hours?” Granddad said, “Sure,” and his daughter left. Then Granddad scooped up two bowls of oatmeal. “Do you like sugar?” he asked. When Bobby nodded he asked, “How about some butter, too?” When his grandson nodded again he asked, “How about milk?” “Sure,” the boy said. But when the grandfather placed the steaming bowl of oatmeal in front of Bobby, the boy made a face and pushed it away. “But when I asked you, you said you liked sugar, butter and milk,” grandfather protested. “Yeah,” Bobby answered, “but you didn’t ask me if I like oatmeal.” Granddad forgot to ask the most elemental question. Sometimes we forget to do that, too. We never set priorities. We never list in our own minds what those things are that matter most. We allow life to buffet us here and there and we never center in on those things that really matter. 

The key to the Christian life is SETTING PRIORITIES: Jesus Christ first, then everything else. The only way really to learn that lesson is to spend some time every day, “sitting at the feet of Jesus.” Today’s first reading describes how Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality to strangers was rewarded by God. The Gospel passage describes how Martha wanted to extend the traditional generous hospitality of her people to Jesus, the true Messiah, by preparing an elaborate meal for him, while her sister Mary spent her time in talking to him and listening to him. Presenting Martha as a dynamo of action and Mary as a true listener to the word of God, today’s Gospel invites us to serve others with Martha’s diligence, after recharging our spiritual batteries every day by prayer – listening to God and talking to God – as Mary did.

Prayer and actions must be continuous, complementary and mutually dependent. Prayer without action is sterile, and action without prayer is empty. We are expected to be “contemplatives in action” because only those who listen carefully to the Word of God know how to behave in the way that God wants, when they show deep concern for the well-being of other people. That is why Jesus reminds Martha that proper service for him is attention to his instruction, not just an elaborate provision for his physical needs.

Martha loves Christ, but she still depends on her own strength to earn his love in return. She hasn't learned that what matters is not so much what we can do for Christ as what he has done and wants to do for us.

Feeding 15 people is no small task, and she could have used her sister's help.  So she tries to get Jesus to tell Mary to lend a hand. But Jesus doesn't. He actually commends Mary and reproves Martha.

Why? Christ was glad to be served, but he was even gladder to be loved.

It is a well-known fact that those who are in the caring professions, like doctors, nurses, pastors, social workers and even parents, often suffer from burnout and terminal exhaustion as Martha did. People suffering from burnout often end up angry, anxious, and worried. Hence, occasionally we need to put aside the work we do in serving others and just spend some time being with the Lord, loving Him, talking to Him and listening to Him, fully aware of His holy presence in our souls. We may do the recharging of our spiritual energy also by our personal and family prayers, by the meditative reading of the Bible and by participating in the celebration of the Holy Mass. Christian husbands and wives should develop “couple spirituality” and seek more opportunities to pray together.

Martha has become a symbol of action-oriented, responsible people who get the job done. Our world needs such men, women, boys and girls, and so does the Church. How would the Church survive if not for the Marthas who sing in the choir, clean the church, set up for the Mass doing the Sacristan job, altar servers, ushers, people taking communion to the sick, yard mowers, and all the Marthas working at the Picnic this coming week? The Church could not exist without them. There is nothing wrong with being a responsible, action-oriented, get-it-done kind of person. But we must find time to listen to God speaking to us through His word, and time to talk to God. Jesus clearly said: be hearers and doers of the word. Jesus never reversed that order. God ordered 6 days of work and the 7^th day for rest, not just physical rest, but to enter into God’s rest, which is for prayer and spiritual refreshment, the Sabbath prayer.

We don’t do God a favor by showing up for Church on Sunday and throwing something into the basket. This does nothing for God. It does not enhance His dignity or add anything to His power or glory. God does us a favor by hosting a meal for us every Sunday in which He offers Himself to us as food, in the most intimate act of communion with Himself imaginable. Mass is not about what we do for God, but about what God does for us. Often our attitude reflects like we are going to give something to God and God is gaining something by our action, and that is why at least some of us do not consider Sunday Mass a priority. Someone related to me a few weeks ago that when she needed a ride to Church on Sunday her granddaughter asked her, Do you still go to Church every Sunday Grandma? And she responded, well am I not supposed to? The new generation thinks that going to Sunday mass once a month is more than enough. Well, that is not the law. If we don’t, we break the law and breaking the law is a sin. In the OT. When people stayed away from going to the weekly meeting in the tent in the wilderness they were punished. It was meant to enrich them not God.

Jesus wants us to choose the better part, to depend more on him than ourselves, so that he can give us his best. Today, let's promise that we will.