NKCC

Sixteenthth Sunday in OrdinaryTime

Reading I – Genesis 18:1-10a

Reading II – Colossians 1:24-28

Gospel – Luke 10:38-42

DON’T BE ANXIOUS - One can wonder how Luke’s Gospel passage today might have been different if Mary, not Martha, had been the one to complain to Jesus, if Mary had said “Lord, look at her! Here you are sharing your wisdom and all she can think about is supper.” Jesus may have noted, as Luke does, that Martha was burdened with much serving. Later in his writings, this same evangelist will describe in Acts how the early community set aside people whose ministry it is to see to the serving at table.

As a fully human person, Jesus knew the human needs that had to be tended. He doesn’t deny this, nor does He chastise Martha for her working in service. He chides her for being anxious and worried. How can Martha—or any of us—be anxious or worried about the serving that needs to be done when we do it in the context of the Lord’s will and wisdom? The Church has done more than any other institution to bear the heavy burdens of serving the ill, the uneducated, the suffering; has been “Martha” to countless of the little ones whom Christ told us were His very presence. But the Church has borne the burdens of service from the position of Mary: at the feet of the Lord, listening to and being guided by His word.  © Copyright, J. S. Paluch Co.

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