On “Being Both Mary and Martha” and "Good as the Enemy of the Best" Here’s the audio to listen: stcatherinevallejo.org/index.php/2013/07/deacons-homily-3/ Here’s the text: We learned that evil is the enemy of good. In our lives, humans as we are, we have this constant struggle of choosing between good and bad…but, we may not realize it – there is another area –in which we struggle much more often than we realize… and which keeps most of us from becoming the persons God wants us to be. It is not so much the struggle between being good and being bad, not so much choosing between good and evil. We are also often challenged or faced with a conflict of choosing between two good options. In such cases – we can say that the good becomes the enemy of the best…when we settle for less – when we settle for “being nice” and “good enough” - instead of being the best we are called to be and do. Here’s a story to help explain the point: A guard in charge of a lighthouse along a dangerous coast was given enough oil for one month and he was told to keep the light burning every night. One day a woman asked for oil so that her children could stay warm. Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so he could read. Another needed some for an engine. The guard saw each as a worthy request and gave some oil to satisfy all of them. By the end of the month, the oil tank in the lighthouse was dry. That night - the beacon was dark and so, consequently - three ships crashed on the rocks. More than one hundred lives were lost. The lighthouse guard explained what he had done and why. But the prosecutor replied, “You were given only one task: to keep the light burning. Every other thing was secondary. You have no excuse.” Again, we are also often faced with this challenge… At times - we must say no to a good thing in order to say yes to the one thing necessary… Of course, admittedly, this is much much easier said than done… So, how can we discern and know what to do? In the Gospel, the Lord told Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part…”… meaning – it is our relationship with the Lord that must come first… Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” … because that puts everything else in perspective. If we are in communion with the Lord, if we are one with God, then we will know what to do, when to do it, to whom to do it, how to do it, where to do it… Actually – it will be God working through us. Otherwise, even if what we do can be considered good compassionate charitable Christian acts, but if it is not God’s will for us - if we are not in fellowship with the Lord, then we can do more harm than good…like in the story of the lighthouse guard… because what we might be doing could be only according to our own personal agenda and self-satisfaction… so we feel good… but not according to God’s will… and therefore, it is still self-serving. If we are not in communion with the Lord, we could be relying only on our own logic and perception and understanding of things. True wisdom is seeing things, people, situations, seeing reality as God sees them. Our work, ministry, our lives must be grounded or rooted on our relationship with the Lord. Without our relationship with God - our service is meaningless…. Jesus knew who he was. He knew whose He was. He was clear about the meaning and purpose of His life. He calls us to the same beautiful simple life. Unfortunately, for many people – that is not the case and so they have problems with their priorities… and focus in life…losing sight or not realizing what life is all about. The point of the Gospel story of Mary and Martha is to challenge our priorities so that we come to see that fellowship with the Lord, being with the Lord, listening to the Lord and hearing His word - should always come first before we do the work for the Lord. Martha was a good person. What she was doing was good… The point of the story is - not to invite us to choose between being a Martha or a Mary. A true disciple needs to be both Martha and Mary. It is reasonable to think that the reason why Jesus said Mary chose the better part – instead of saying that Mary chose the best part – is because - to be the best - is to be both Mary and Martha… combination, a blend of both Mary and Martha. We need to be like Mary - more interested in knowing the Lord….spending time with the Lord…. Being involved with meditation and contemplation… spending time in prayer and studying and understanding our faith. … But we need also to be like Martha diligently doing the work of the Lord, for the Lord. The problem is if we are like Martha only, we can get caught up in the details and lose sight of the big picture. It is like the three men who were working with mallet and chisel. A passerby asked what they were doing. One of them said, “I am shaping a stone.” Another said, “I am making $15.00 an hour.” But the third one had the big picture. He said, “I am building a cathedral.”… not losing sight of the big picture. We live in such a busy, complicated and materialistic society. We go about our day, so busily engaged in doing this and that – that if we are not careful - we tend to overlook and lose sight of the purpose for our actions – why we do what we do. We forget the reason for our being. We forget about the presence of Christ – we forget our need of Christ. We forget - whose we are. Like Martha in the Gospel - we can become so anxious only with DOING - instead of BEING. God does not need our works; God wants our hearts. Again - Who we are is more important than what we do. Our goal in life is to build a character suitable or fit to be in heaven. On the other hand, it is not good also if we are like Mary only. Sitting at the feet of Jesus is very well and good… but, if it is all we do in our relationship with Christ, it could also be a very lopsided Christianity. It is all receiving and no giving… if we are only preoccupied with making ourselves spiritually pure….but in the meantime, the others are doing all the work. If we use religion as an escape from life - it can also become one of the most selfish things in the world… Today’s gospel invites us all - first - to be a Mary - who sits with devotion at the Lord’s feet listening to His word, discerning His will, and then - also to be a Martha diligently doing the work of the Lord, serving the Lord. Our Eucharistic celebration is a perfect example. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Christian Life. In our Eucharistic celebration – we enter into communion with God and with one another. We sit and listen to the Word of God and then we receive the Body and Blood of Christ and at the end of the Mass – we are all sent in the peace of Christ – to love and serve the Lord in others. (Homily for the16th Sunday in Ordinary Time based on the Gospel Reading from Luke 10:38-42)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 23:03:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015