A woman whose name was Martha welcomed him

REFLECTIONS TODAY

The Gospel story refines the idea of hospitality. Martha is probably the older of the two sisters and plays host. She is the one who welcomes Jesus. Her anxiety and concern are understandable enough. But her self-preoccupation turns to resentment and accusation: Mary has left her by herself to do the serving!

In Martha’s irritation we see something of the bluster of the lawyer who seeks to trap Jesus, the resentment of the religious leaders, and the complaint of the resentful brother towards the prodigal younger brother in Lk 15:28-29. But Jesus knows Martha well enough to take this outburst against her. While he calls her attention, he does so with gentleness: “Martha, Martha!” (v 41). Still—and this is the heart of the vignette—he “lectures” her instead of Mary, as Martha expects. He tells Martha that Mary has made the right choice by sitting at his feet listening to him. He comes as a prophet and the appropriate reception for him is listening to God’s word! Martha is putting herself in an uproar over how to provide service to Jesus. But Jesus comes not so much to receive a gift but to give a gift—the gift of the word of God that Mary welcomes. The “one thing” that Mary has found is probably the happiness the psalmist feels when he is before the presence of the Lord: “One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, to gaze on the Lord’s beauty” (Ps 27:4). Mary invites us to subordinate all things to the only thing that matters.

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph.