There are those certain saints that get the bad wrap. There’s Saint Thomas, also known as ‘doubting Thomas’ who doesn’t believe in Jesus resurrection until he places his fingers in the hands and side of Jesus. There’s Mary Magdalene who is accused of being Jesus’ girlfriend and hopelessly lost in the sin of promiscuity. Then there is good ‘ol Saint Peter who denies Jesus three times. St. Peter who consistently blunders and fumbles in word and deed. Last but not least, we have Martha, who in today’s Gospel, obviously missed the point of being at Jesus’ feet. All these saints get the bum rap at some time or another, but upon further review, let’s give Martha a little bit of credit in her apparent snafu.
“Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.” We have to give Martha credit. She ran out to welcome Jesus while Mary stayed back. St. Ephrem the Syrian said, “Martha’s love was more fervent than Mary’s, for before Jesus had arrived there, she was ready to serve him.”
In the first reading, Abraham is sitting in his tent. Three men, symbolizing the Holy Trinity and God himself are standing outside his tent. Abraham “looked up” and “he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them.” Not only that, but he bowed down on the ground. So Abraham and Martha have a lot in common. They are two peas in a pod. Both rushing out to greet God. Both eager to serve and do the loving.
Pope Francis says this, “Jesus speaks about in the parable of the Good Samaritan: We look upon the brother half dead by the roadside, perhaps we think “poor guy,” and we continue on our way, it’s none of our business; and we feel fine with this. We feel at peace with this, we feel fine! The culture of well-being, that makes us think of ourselves, that makes us insensitive to the cries of others, that makes us live in soap bubbles, that are beautiful but are nothing, are illusions of futility, of the transient, that brings indifference to others, that brings even the globalization of indifference. In this world of globalization we have fallen into a globalization of indifference. We are accustomed to the suffering of others, it doesn't concern us, it’s none of our business.
We’ve become indifferent to the need of greeting Christ. Martha exemplifies the ability to zealously go out and meet Jesus. But somewhere along the way she sorta gets it wrong. What happened? It is obvious that Martha’s heart is in the right place, but she misfires, she goes down the wrong path. Instead of staying focused on doing what she was doing for Christ and Christ doing through her, she begins to put the burden of service upon herself. What’s the remedy? How can we not run into the same problem of bringing the burden of service upon ourselves?
Saint Paul gives us the vaccine in the second reading. He says, “IT IS CHRIST IN YOU!” It is Christ within us doing the work through us. We are the instrument, not the player. We are the messengers not the message. He is God and we are not. More often than not we make the drastic mistake of taking it all upon ourselves. Then we actually command Jesus like Martha, “Tell her to help me!” As Father Barron observes: There is no greater indication that we are off our rocker than when we tell God what to do!
So lets not count Martha out. Her heart is in the right place. She isn’t indifferent, but wants to make a difference. She isn’t complacent, but active. At times, however, like Martha, we can begin to lose sight of how Christ is at work within us. We need help to not be indifferent to the needs of others. We need God’s help to lead us to his Son’s feet, like Mary so that we may chose the better part and receive from the font of life to be poured out for others--to welcome others, to greet other with the love of Christ found within.
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