16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) shows the futility of active service which, because it is not based on attentive listening to God’s word and nourished by such listening, becomes mere busyness. When Jesus says to Martha, “You are anxious and worried about many things,” he is not criticizing her for performing the duties of hospitality, but for doing so without first attending to his word. Martha, we might say, is the kind of person who likes to go about doing good without understanding and embracing the underlying reasons for the good that she does. It is almost like being busy just for the sake of being busy! Some would claim that she was providing hospitality to Jesus and his disciples, but would not the first order of hospitality be to attend to what Jesus was saying?

This story in today’s Gospel does not ask us to choose between being a Mary or a Martha. The true disciple of Jesus must be both. Mark’s Gospel (Mk 3:14) tells us that when Jesus called his Twelve Apostles, he called them for a dual purpose: to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message. The very word “Apostle” comes from the Greek word apostolos which means “one who is sent.” Which is more important: to be with Jesus, or to proclaim his message to others? Being with the Lord and listening to his word must be the basis for all we do for him. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta understood this. She would spend several hours a day in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and this is what empowered her and directed her activities in reaching out to the poorest of the poor.

When we act without listening, we are guilty of a subtle kind of pride. We are assuming that we already know what must be done, and have no need of guidance – divine or otherwise. Acting without first attending to God’s word can mean doing what we want to do, rather than doing what God requires of us. The remedy is to sit attentively at the Lord’s feet, like Mary of Bethany in today’s Gospel, and listen to his word.

How can we do this? We can spend time praying, especially before the Blessed Sacrament, and reflecting upon Sacred Scripture. We can set aside a part of our prayer time each day for listening to the Lord, who speaks in the silence of our hearts. And we can listen attentively to the word of God preached and proclaimed at Mass. When we do these things, we are like Mary of Bethany choosing what Jesus calls “the better part,” which will not be taken from us.