SACRAMENT OF RECONCILLIATION
HOSPITABLE HOUSEHOLD
Wouldn’t we be delighted if a whole raft of stories turned up about Martha, Mary and Lazarus; but today’s episode and the raising of Lazarus (John 11) are the only ones recorded by the Evangelists. However, these two stories let us see Jesus in an everyday setting among people that he loved and who clearly loved him. The parents of Martha and Mary were presumably dead, since we hear nothing about them. The two women were clearly very attached to the Lord, and he treated them with respect and affection. This story is not teaching that one should not serve a meal to our guests. Jesus is saying rather that more important than feeding them is enjoying their company and loving them. We should never be so busy that we have no time for conversation.
Our Irish tradition emphasizes hospitality, a tradition somewhat harder to practice in a busy urban setting, but one that we would do well to keep alive and even revive to a higher level. We are more likely to encounter the grace of God when welcoming visitors to our home, than just by sitting watching television!
LISTEN TO HIM
The Psalmist asks God, “What is man that you care for him, or mortal beings that you keep them in mind?” Some saintly people seem to have an exceptional grasp of God’s plan for the human race and have shared that knowledge with the rest of us. So, the Word of God came to Abraham, not as an abstract doctrine but as a conviction grasped by the heart. Abraham’s encounter with God was deeply personal. He was called the friend of God, and his welcome to God’s Messengers mirrored eastern nomadic hospitality.
Abraham is the iconic model of deep-rooted trust in God. Called to leave his own clan, he stopped worshipping their gods and set out for an unknown destination. In return God promised he would become the father of a great nation. Abraham trusted and followed this call, even when there seemed little hope that this promise would ever be fulfilled. When they had practically given up hope, he again hears that his wife will bear a son, and again he trusts in God’s word. Later still, when Isaac was born Abraham felt he ought to sacrifice this precious son. But he carried out this grim command, how could the promise of God evercome true? According to Genesis, later echoed by St Paul, Abraham’s trust in God never wavered, and in the end was vindicated. It was for this faith that he was justified in God’s sight, and this faith was passed on to Abraham’s children and to all believers, including ourselves.
Jesus had a special esteem for Mary, the sister of Martha, and enjoyed her vibrant relationship with him, her eager spirit of listening. While we feel sorry for Martha, being left to do the household work on her own, it’s clear that Jesus appreciated Mary’s listening spirit. Our attentiveness to him must not be eclipsed by our mundane daily bustling about. Then we have St Paul’s reflection about how the Word of God, hidden from all mankind for centuries, was received by those who eagerly listened to it. We need to make space for God in our lives, to listen for it at some time each day, and to pray the Holy Spirit to be our guide.
MARTHA AND MARY
I love this conversation between Jesus and his friends (two sisters and their brother Lazarus) in the village of Bethany. While he was friendly with all of them, it is hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for Martha. It was her house after all, and she would naturally want to show it at its best. Her problem, as with over-anxious people in general, was that she saw only one right way to do things and became annoyed when others followed a different course. What she does not see is that the best kind of welcome is when we forget ourselves and focus on what our visitors really need.
Martha loved Jesus too, and it is clear that he treasured them both. Her mistake was in not realizing how Jesus wished to be received. Her sister correctly sensed that when Jesus came to visit them on his way to Jerusalem, what he wanted from them was not food but conversation. So, while Martha made the greater effort at housekeeping, Mary knew better what he expected of her. Her contemplative intuition grasped instinctively the main reason for Jesus’ visit. He was there not to receive but to give, not to be served but to serve. He had something to say, and they needed to listen to him.
This encounter suggests a theology of contemplation, how to receive the Lord’s visit. It starts from the basis that whoever our visitors may be, there is always something to be learned from them. The one who comes knocking on our door will have something to tell us, should be listened to and understood. After a frustrating debate with scribes and Pharisees, Jesus came to visit his friends, for peace and calm. He comes to talk to us in the quiet of the evening or the freshness of the morning, to share with us the Word of life. He comes not because he needs us but because we need him. We too can be distracted and “worry and fret about so many things.” We may, like Martha, miss the better part, the one thing necessary, which is to listen to the Word of Christ.
The world is made up of Martha’s and Mary’s – doers and dreamers – and the former are much more numerous than the latter. The commercial society of today places a huge premium on achievement. It is tangible results that count. Production and sales targets are set for and only those who meet them are rewarded. Captains of industry insist that pay be related to production: “shape up or ship out.” And those who can’t or won’t are made redundant. That is, in a sense, Martha’s world. Mercifully, we still have our dreamers. And like Jesus, we should cherish such dreamers for the contribution they bring to our lives.
Who are the Marys our church today? Not all of them live in cloisters, though some still do, quietly worshipping on behalf of us all. Some live a busy life at work and as homemakers but find time in their hearts for prayer and for going to church. Others work creatively in their writing rooms or studios, patiently building their dreams of a better world for future generations. It is the poets, painters, writers, philosophers and mystics, who, like Mary, have chosen the better part.
“The welcome offered by the sisters, Martha and Mary, in Bethany“