October 5, 2010
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
By Beth DeCristofaro
Brothers and sisters: You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it,…But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles…So they glorified God because of me. (Galatians 1:13, 15-16, 24)
Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. … The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. (Luke 10:38, 41-42)
Piety
Christ the Savior, who had nowhere to lay His head, found rest and refreshment in the home of the sisters of Bethany. Devoted to prayer, contemplation and silence, Mary brought forth much fruit and loved God above all things. Dedicated to good works and love of neighbor, Martha brought forth much fruit and loved God in others. Mary and Martha, two sides of the same coin, lovingly served the Lord and not mammon.
(From a Vespers verse for the feast of Sts. Mary and Martha) http://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/publications.html
Study
In a parable, Jesus told the Pharisees that his followers ate and drank because the bridegroom (Jesus) was with them. It seems to me that Paul’s dedication to proclaiming the Word to the gentiles – all over the known world - and Mary’s choice to sit at the feet of Jesus showed that they knew, in their innermost being, how important it was to take advantage of the presence of the bridegroom Jesus. Mary was fortunate to know and love him personally. Paul did not know Jesus until after the resurrection. Jesus called Paul who then spent the rest of his life with Jesus present and real within Paul’s heart and soul. The bridegroom was with them both.
So what does it take to proclaim the Gospel? Paul had what it takes even if by human standards he was hardly “worthy.” Mary decided on “the better part” which leads me to think that she needed Martha as Martha certainly needed her: “two sides of the same coin” to lovingly serve the Lord says the prayer above. I know that I am often anxious and worried about many things even if they are important. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home but her worry got in her way of opening herself to his presence. I tend to be thrifty, weighing my needs versus my wants. Just recently, a dear friend of mine told me that he was going to make a donation to a charity in the name of a mutual friend. My reaction was not very supportive. I wondered what’s the purpose and is this some kind of flattery. Somehow, I don’t think that is what either Mary or Paul, whose every action and very lives brought Jesus to the world would say. And I suspect Jesus would say, gently, to me: “It’s not propriety, or pinching pennies that counts. Your friend has chosen the better part in his generosity.”
Action
Read the beautiful homily delivered by Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, O.P., at Sunday’s Red Mass.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/archbishop-di-noias-homily-todays-red-mass
What are you pinching in your life which might keep you from opening up to fully thanking and praising God, to proclaiming the Gospel in your own life? In the Washington D.C. region, we live with political correctness and partisanship each and every day. Are we caught in it over and above our allegiance to God? Do we accept tenets of politics or live in fear of the current “terror” alert rather than be irrationally joyful (like Paul) that God called us out of his grace?
Do our actions to others, including the politically incorrect, proclaim the Gospel and glorify God?
