July 18, 2010
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Someone asked if I was distracted during morning Mass. I was! During Eucharist I was thinking of all the things I had to do later in the day. Anticipating what was to come I was not mindful or focused on what was at hand. In our Gospel today Martha is busy with household tasks and Mary is seated, listening to Jesus. This Lucan text has been used to compare an active secular life with a more prayerful life of religious. Martha and her active counterparts are found wanting. But is this comparison correct? When Martha complains to Jesus about her sister Mary, Jesus gently chides Martha for being anxious about many thing and missing the most important thing. Martha is so busy and aggravated with her sister that she has forgotten who is in her home. Martha, preoccupied, is is not listening to Jesus. Last weekend, in the parable of the Gospel of the Good Samaritan, Jesus underscores the importance of compassion and hospitality. But Jesus continues in the Gospel proclaimed this Sunday that charity for others must always be coupled with our love for God. Jesus summarizes and prioritizes the Law: "Love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself." Whatever is on our plate to do (no matter how good) that distracts us and makes us anxious will be seen in a different light when we become conscious of God being with us in Jesus Christ. Mission 2010 at Annunciation concluded on Saturday. The theme puts it succinctly: "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
