Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 10:38-42
WHEN I LIVED IN BUFFALO, I WAS THE THESIS DIRECTOR FOR A GRADUATE STUDENT WHO HAD BEEN BORN IN ITALY, AND HAD COME TO THIS COUNTRY WITH HIS PARENTS WHEN HE WAS ABOUT SIX. HE INVITED ME AND MY FAMILY TO SUPPER ONE DAY, AND ALTHOUGH I MADE A LOT OF EXCUSES, HE KEPT INSISTING AND FINALLY WORE DOWN MY RESISTANCE. WE GOT TO HIS HOUSE AT ABOUT 1:30 PM ON A SUNDAY. WE SAT AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE, THE FATHER AT THE HEAD, MY STUDENT AND HIS SISTER ACROSS FROM MY WIFE AND MYSELF, AND MY CHILDREN AT A CARD-TABLE. MY STUDENT'S MOTHER WAS STANDING BEHIND HIS FATHER'S CHAIR. DURING THE MEAL, SHE DID NOT JOIN US, BUT KEPT GOING INTO THE KITCHEN AND BRINGING OUT VARIOUS DISHES. I KEPT THINKING THAT THE MEAL WAS OVER, BUT IT KEPT GOING, FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS, AND EVERY TIME WE WOULD FINISH ONE THING, SOMETHING ELSE WOULD BE BROUGHT OUT. I BEGAN TO REALIZE WHY MY STUDENT AND HIS SISTER CARRIED A LITTLE EXCESS WEIGHT.
DURING THE MEAL I ASKED HIM IF HIS MOTHER WOULD SIT DOWN AND JOIN US. HE REPLIED THAT THIS WAS THE WAY IT ALWAYS WAS ON SUNDAYS – SHE NEVER SAT DOWN, SHE JUST COOKED AND SERVED – IT WAS TRADITION, SHE LIKED IT THIS WAY, SHE WOULDN'T THINK OF HAVING IT ANY OTHER WAY. BUT IT JUST DIDN'T SEEM RIGHT TO ME.
DURING THE MEAL, WE HAD A NICE CONVERSATION. MY STUDENT'S FATHER WOULD GIVE HIS OPINIONS, AND WE WOULD DISCUSS THEM. HE WAS CLEARLY THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE AND THE ONE TO WHOM EVERYONE DEFERRED.
TODAY'S GOSPEL IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS; IN FACT, THE STORY OF MARTHA AND MARY IS ALMOST A CLICHÉ. PEOPLE REACT PREDICTABLY. MOTHERS SYMPATHIZE WITH MARTHA, AND GET A LITTLE MAD AT JESUS FOR SEEMING TO PUT HER DOWN WHEN ALL SHE WANTS IS A LITTLE HELP IN THE KITCHEN, PLEASE. AFTER ALL, MARTHA HAD TO RUSTLE UP SUPPER FOR TWELVE APOSTLES, JESUS, AND HER BROTHER LAZARUS. THAT'S A BIG DINNER PARTY, AND IF JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES WERE LIKE MOST MEN, THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T GIVE A LOT OF ADVANCE NOTICE. BUT THOSE CATHOLICS WHO HAVE ENTERED MONASTERIES AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS LOOK AT MARY, AND PERHAPS BELIEVE IN THEIR HEARTS THAT THEY HAVE CHOSEN THE BETTER PART; THEY ARE AFTER ALL, PUTTING ASIDE WORLDLY CARES SO THAT THEY CAN LISTEN MORE INTENTLY TO JESUS. AND EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T WANT TO ADMIT IT, MAYBE THEY FEEL A LITTLE BIT SUPERIOR TO THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SO MANY EARTHLY CARES. AND THE REST OF US ARE IN BETWEEN; SOMETIMES WHEN WE ARE MARTHA, WE WISH WE WERE MARY; AND IF WE ARE MARY, SOMETIMES THOSE OF US WHO CAN'T SIT STILL FEEL AN URGE TO GO OUT IN THE KITCHEN AND SAY, “PUT ME TO WORK” BECAUSE SITTING QUIETLY IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO WELL.
I THINK JESUS HAS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MESSAGE THAN WE COMMONLY HEAR, HOWEVER. INDEED, MARY HAS CHOSEN THE BETTER PART. BUT JESUS IMPLIES THAT MARTHA COULD HAVE DONE SO AS WELL. MY STUDENT'S MOTHER AND FATHER WERE LOCKED INTO STEREOTYPES; SHE COULD NEVER HAVE SAT DOWN AT THE TABLE AND JOINED IN THE CONVERSATION; HE COULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN UP AND HELPED HER IN THE KITCHEN.
BUT JESUS IMPLIES THAT IF WE ARE LOCKED INTO STEREOTYPES, WE MISS OUT ON THE BEST THINGS LIFE HAS TO OFFER. MARY BROKE THE STEREOTYPE, LEFT THE KITCHEN AND SAT AT THE FEET OF JESUS, JUST LIKE THE APOSTLES. AND JESUS CREDITS HER WITH THAT. MARTHA WAS DOING “WOMEN'S WORK” AND BECAUSE OF THAT, LOCKED HERSELF IN A PRISON OF HER OWN MAKING; JESUS IS IN THE NEXT ROOM, SPEAKING WORDS THAT MOVE THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR HIM; SPEAKING WORDS OF LIFE AND SALVATION; AND MARTHA CANNOT LEAVE HER POTS AND PANS TO LISTEN. BUT MARY MAY HAVE CHOSEN THE BETTER PART, BUT MARTHA'S PROBLEM IS NOT LIMITED TO HER ALONE. WHY ARE THE APOSTLES AND MARY SITTING THERE ALLOWING MARTHA TO DO ALL THE WORK? THEY ARE AS GUILTY AS SHE IS; IT IS IN PART THEIR FAULT, THEIR EXPECTATIONS, THAT PREVENT MARTHA FROM CHOOSING THE BETTER PART. AND WE CAN ALL SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING. MARY AND THE APOSTLES SHOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT MARTHA WAS DOING ALL THE WORK, AND FOUND A WAY TO MAKE SURE SHE SAT AT JESUS' FEET AS WELL; MARTHA IS DOING “WOMEN'S WORK” BUT THE APOSTLES ARE ENABLERS, THEY ARE REINFORCING THE STEREOTYPE.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF MARTHA'S. HOW DO I KNOW THIS? EVERY TUESDAY JESUS, BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY, TAKES HIS PLACE ON THE ALTAR IN THE EXPOSED BLESSED SACRAMENT. HE SPEAKS TO THOSE WHO COME TO HIM IN THE SILENCE OF THEIR HEARTS; HE OFFERS PEACE, ENLIGHTENMENT, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, FORGIVENESS OF SINS. EVERY FIRST FRIDAY HE MOUNTS HIS THRONE AS WELL, AND WAITS FOR HIS PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THE BETTER PART. AND THEY DON'T. THEY ARE TOO BUSY; THEY ARE ANXIOUS AND WORRIED ABOUT MANY THINGS.
IF YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT JESUS MAKES HIMSELF PRESENT IN THE BREAD AND WINE AS CATHOLICS BELIEVE; IF YOU WANT WHAT HE HAS TO OFFER, ISN'T IT TIME THAT YOU MADE A RESOLUTION TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ONCE A WEEK, IF ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES? YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO COME WHEN JESUS IS EXPOSED ON TUESDAYS AND FIRST FRIDAY; HE IS ALWAYS THERE IN THE TABERNACLE. IF YOU JUST BARELY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS PRESENT IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, THEN YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO ACT ON THAT BELIEF, AND IN HIS PRESENCE YOUR BELIEF WILL BE STRENGTHENED.
ONCE A PRIEST WAS COMPLAINING TO MOTHER THERESA ABOUT HOW BUSY HE WAS. HE BARELY HAD TIME TO GET THROUGH THE DAY, AND BECAUSE OF THAT HE FOUND HIMSELF NEGLECTING HIS PRAYER LIFE. SHE TOLD HIM THAT IF HE COULDN'T MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER IN HIS LIFE, NOTHING HE DID MATTERED. IF HE COULDN'T MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER THEN HE WAS CLEARLY WAY TOO BUSY.
AND TODAY WE SHOULD ASK WHETHER WE ARE TOO BUSY; WHETHER WE ARE ALLOWING THE STEREOTYPE OF WHAT THE WORLD EXPECTS OF US TO RULE OUR LIVES; WHETHER WE ARE BUSY WITH POTS AND PANS AND DISTRACTIONS WHEN JESUS IS IN THE NEXT ROOM AND THERE IS A PLACE FOR US AT HIS FEET.