SIXTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
Genesis 18:1-10; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42
little brother avi bala bitra 17th July, 2022
The central theme of today’s Mass is hospitality where
a person seeks to discover the divine presence in the other. In general,
welcoming a guest was and still is an extremely important obligation of people
living in the Orient. In the severe
conditions of the desert, sometimes finding shelter can be a matter of life and
death.
Hospitality has been an important custom in several
ethnic groups, in many parts of Asia, especially among Muslims and Jews. In the
Gospel we have Martha, Mary, and Lazarus welcoming Jesus to their house and
show their hospitality. However, the Lord indicates that such hospitality
should be without any anxiety but filled with service and love.
The First Reading from the book of Genesis is part of
the story about Abraham happily welcoming the heavenly visitors. The three
unidentified men arrive in front of Abraham’s tent and immediately Abraham
rushes to greet the strangers, bows before them, and, invites them to partake
of his hospitality.
In the second reading, Paul writes to the Colossian
community about his own suffering and the joy with which he accepts them. His appeals to them follow patterns that were
familiar in his time and world: his personal experience of suffering, his
devotion to the Gentile mission, his hard work, and especially his divine
commission to preach God’s “mystery”. Paul lived his life in Christ. Paul indicates that Jesus wants his followers
to continue his work by sharing in the afflictions, thus building up his body
in every age. Christ is in them and they are in Christ.
In the Gospel passage, we see the true model of
hospitality where Jesus is the guest. The house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus
seems to have been a place where Jesus was always welcomed and where he could
find shelter when things were getting too hot in nearby Jerusalem.
The story tells us that there were certain customs regulating the activities of men and women while showing hospitality to guests. Generally, it was not permitted for a woman of the household to sit with the male visitor or engage him in conversation. They would just extend a greeting and stay discretely away.
Martha is upset that her sister has broken the
boundary by sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words. This was equivalent to Mary assuming the role
of the man in the house. Martha does her best by requesting Jesus to send her
to lend her support.
The Gospel tells us that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to him. That meant real listening, which is love in action and hard work. Jesus’ gentle, loving and inoffensive correction of Martha was directed at her being preoccupied to the point of distraction about many things. The problem was not that Martha was just working but that she was obsessed with working. She wanted to be an extremely good host.
Jesus spoke to Martha those often misunderstood words that apply to all of us. There is a need for only one thing and Mary has chosen it. Jesus while speaking of the choice made by Martha and Mary did not refer to the two states of life contemplation and action and that contemplative life was better. He wanted a balance between action and contemplation and both are necessary and important.
Jesus tells us that one thing that is necessary for us
in our lives is love and we must show it both in action and contemplation.
Martha and Mary were both in the service of the Lord, for both of them had
answered the call of God’s grace.
Jesus points to another dimension in Christian living,
which is also of prime importance and that is the direct personal relationship
between a person and God. So, it is Mary has chosen the “better” part, which is
to listen to Jesus, the Word of God.
Comments
Post a Comment