The Only Necessary Thing!

 (Homily 16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

     A proper look into the readings of this Sunday reveals that a unifying theme, especially in the first reading and the Gospel is that of hospitality. In the first reading, God presented himself as a stranger or a guest to Abraham (interestingly, the Christian tradition sees this encounter between Abraham and the three men or angels as a symbol of the Trinity); in the Gospel reading Jesus was welcomed as a guest in the house of Mary and Martha. This theme lingers subtly into the second reading whereof St. Paul welcomed and accepted in his body Christ crucified, in order to complete Christ’s sufferings in his body- that is the Church. Again, we are told of how the Word of God hidden from all mankind for centuries, came to the Gentiles.

     As a matter of fact, in our world today that is growing more and more individualistic we need to rediscover the value of hospitality. The Scripture helps us to understand in profundity the meaning of hospitality, not only as a human attribute, but an aspect of the new commandment of Christ, to welcome a guest means to welcome Christ, who identifies with all the needy, who even on the episode of the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Lk. 24) assumed the position of a pilgrim or a guest. While teaching about the final judgment, he says: “I was a stranger and you made me welcome” (Mt. 25:35b). Be that as it may, welcoming a guest means opening one’s doors like Abraham, Martha and Mary, and by extension like Paul too.

     The first reading (Gn. 18:1-10a) narrates the encounter between Abraham and the three young men or angels. And apart from Abraham’s hospitality to them, the hit track of this passage is the annunciation of Isaac’s birth to Abraham. The thread linking the revelation of Isaac’s birth in the first reading and the mystery hidden for ages and generations and now made manifest in the second reading, is the fact that God is a God who acts in history, and he accompanies his actions with the revelation of their meanings. In the Scriptures, annunciation is a tool for disclosing the meaning of God’s acts in the history of salvation. In the history of salvation, usually the birth of major figures and actors are announced by an angel, and it is often a supernatural birth or a birth that surpasses the ordinary course. In the case of Isaac, his birth was supernatural because Abraham and Sarah were too old to have a child. As a matter of fact, the event of the birth of Isaac and other similar supernatural birth events (e.g: Samson (Jg. 13), Samuel (1Sam. 1)) prepares the ground in the Old testament for the birth of Jesus in the New Testament (cf. Lk. 1:26-38).

     The sacred writer with this story intends to lay emphasis on three important facts: ●The great gentleness and sense of hospitality of Abraham, who immediately he saw them “ran from the tent door to meet them”, he invited them to come and wash their feet and to rest under the shadow of the tree. He went further to ask for permission to go and prepare a meal for them, so that they could be refreshed in order to continue their journey. ●The supernatural character of the apparition, one of the three personages is Yahweh (God), as evidenced in verses (1.3.10.13). The aim of this apparition was to announce to Abraham the birth of his son Isaac (within a year), even though humanly speaking it appears impossible (the old age of Abraham and the sterility of Sarah). ●The profound desire of Abraham of being able to welcome and have under his tent Yahweh (God), this is expressed in a humble and ardent supplication thus: “My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant…” (v. 3).

     Be that as it may, today therefore, the word of God invites us to appropriate, to make ours these sentiments and comportment of Abraham. Hospitality has a sacred character; it is eminently a religious and biblical expression of the love of neighbor which distinguishes a Christian. Secondly, let us share with Abraham the desire and the prayer that God may give us the grace of His visit, of visiting our house and our heart, to be our guest, to enter into our life as a friend as He did to Abraham. This twofold desire of God who intends to dwell among men, and of men desiring to be visited by God, was fully realized in the Incarnation of Christ. “The Word was made flesh and it came to dwell among us” (Jn. 1:14). Jesus, the incarnate Word, is the God that not only wants to dwell among us, but to remain with us, especially through the Eucharist, he even wants to come in us to establish a profound communion of life with us, “Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him” (Jn. 14:23). This indeed is the great mystery that was hidden for ages and generations, as St. Paul affirmed in the second reading: “Christ in us the hope of glory”. Paul announced this even while suffering in prison.

     The Gospel passage (Lk. 10:38-42) presents Jesus at Bethany in the house of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. This is a friendly family that was close to Jesus during the time of his ministry in Judea. For Mary it was like a dream being at the side of Jesus, in order to listen in the silence of her heart and with all the attentions of her heart the words of eternal life that Jesus was proclaiming even in the moments of rest, she sat at the Lord’s feet with utmost attention. On the other side is Martha, who was worried on how to give Jesus a resounding welcome, she was putting things in order, cleaning and preparing a good meal. Indeed, one could imagine the tone of her voice and maybe the seriousness on her face when she said to 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” (v.40). It was at this point that Jesus pronounced those words that could be considered a Gospel in the Gospel: “Martha, Martha, he said, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken away from her” (vv. 41-42).

     Extrapolating from this passage, now let us keep aside this incident at the house of Mary and Martha, and focus on ourselves, we are presently the family that has Jesus as a guest, this our liturgical assembly and this our Church are the house of Bethany of which the Master speaks about; now we are Mary and Martha. And it is to us that he says: My friend you worry and fret about so many things and you neglect the only important thing. It is really true, that sometimes in our life and daily endeavors we worry about things that do not matter, we are sometimes like Martha, who believes to be doing the most important thing in the world, while in actual fact they are overtly worried about little things. Sometimes we are agitated for things that seem urgent but not necessities. Little wonder, Jesus posed the question: “Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life? ...So do not worry, do not say: What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?” (Mt. 6:27.31). Jesus therefore, invites us to come out of this endless circle of worrying and instead pay attention to the thing that matters, the only necessary thing!

     As a matter of fact, it behooves us to ask at this point, what is this only necessary thing? What is the better part that can never be taken away from whoever that has chosen it? The passage makes it clear that it is the choice of Mary. But what is this choice of Mary? She chose to listen to Jesus, she chose Jesus, and with Jesus she has chosen all: his word, his presence, his kingdom, she chose what lasts forever, the hidden Treasure. Mary chose his words that are replete with the reality of the present time and eternity; and his presence that is replete with Good News, not only that, but a presence that is autobasileia (Kingdom personified).

     On the other hand, what should we say about the worry and activeness of Marry, indeed, it is not by chance that St. Luke collocated the episode of the Good Samaritan and this of Mary and Martha one after the other. It does appear Jesus placed the episode immediately after that of the Good Samaritan in order to correct the tendency to activism that could mistakenly be deduced from Jesus response to the lawyer. What Jesus cautions in Martha is not her desire to serve, or her attention for the guest, no! What Jesus corrects in Martha is the tendency and act of letting herself be carried away by things to be done, her excessive activism, the excessive attention she gives to exterior things and her work, to the point of losing the sense of proportion and of values. Knowing Jesus, Martha should have known that he prefers being listened to than any other thing, in fact, for Jesus, the food he most desired, is “to do the will of his Father” (Jn. 4:34). On the other hand, the sense of duty of Martha could be interpreted as a form of impression to play the good person to the guest, and not so much to make the guest happy. In all, we discover from this passage that it is important to listen to Jesus, to have our gaze fixed on Him, cultivating the habit of prayer, reflection and contemplation, for these elements help us to purify our actions, and helps us to avoid the tendency of self-seeking when we do charity to others, it helps us to respect priority and instills in us the calmness of doing things in a better way.

     Mary chose the better part, and what of you? What part have you chosen? The choice is demonstrated in a precise fact, just like in the case of Mary: Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and was listening to his words. She was listening not just with her ears, but with her heart and all her being, we need to learn from her this type of profound listening; faith indeed comes by hearing the word of Christ (cf. Rm. 10:17). Martha did not understand that Jesus came to their house to nourish her and not to be nourished by her. Jesus continues to come to us as our guest, but he comes to nourish us, he does that through his words and through the gift of himself in the Holy Eucharist. Let us always welcome him with utmost attention for He is the Better Part that can never be taken away from us.

     In the second reading (Col. 1:24-28) St. Paul makes a bold formulation that he fills up what is lacking of Christ’s affliction, in any case, it does not mean that something is lacking in the atoning power of Christ’s death. We can draw a clue from the letters that presented Paul’s suffering as an epiphany or manifestation of Christ’s cross. In that bid, what is lacking is not the atoning power of the cross of Christ; rather it’s manifestation in the Church as a present reality. Once again, it is not as if there is something lacking from the Cross of Christ or that it is inadequate of redeeming the world, such that it needs to be completed, No!  The fact is that in the very moment Paul is united with Christ through grace, Christ “lives in him”, he became a sort of a prolongation of the humanity of Christ and through Paul’s sufferings Christ continues his passion for the redemption of the world and for the good of the Church.

     In the undoubted letters of St. Paul, his Gospel is a mystery (cf. 1Cor 2:1), in the letter to the Romans this mystery has a subtle difference (cf. Rm. 11:25) and it has to do with the proclamation of a new saving act. And in St. Paul’s parlance, the mystery involves the admission of the Gentiles to the Christian community. Indeed, St. Paul tends to explain better in what consists this one thing that matters, this better part spoken about by Jesus in the Gospel. And he affirms: “it is Christ among you, your hope of glory” (v.27), he is the mystery hidden for generations and centuries, but now it has been finally manifested in all his glory and richness to the saints. Christ in us the hope of glory, this is truly the great and necessary thing. We need to recognize this presence of Jesus in us, which no one can take away from us, he is ever present and he continues to speak to the Church, as he was speaking in the house of Mary and Martha. He alone constitutes the hope of our final victory on death and this passing world.

     The contemplation of Mary and the action of Martha belong together as two folded hands. For without action, contemplation can easily degenerate into a sort of spiritual passivism, and without some tinctures of contemplation, action becomes obsessive-compulsive activism. Be that as it may, Mary and Martha demonstrate clearly the two possible approaches of two good people in their response to Jesus only that Martha exaggerated a bit in her worries. So drawing the issue further prayer and work (contemplation and action) can be the both sides of the same coin. Therefore, sitting or serving we can still be very close to Jesus and listen attentively to his words! Today if you are opportune to hear or listen to his word, harden not your hearts (Heb. 3:15; Ps. 95:7-8). Lord Jesus, the eternal Word of the Father, help to treasure your presence in our lives. Amen!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)