Sixteenth Sunday C in Ordinary Time, Luke 10.38-42

The priority of our relationship with God and to our neighbors
(Luke 10:38-42)
Know how to take the best possible approach to lived values.

We used to greet a precious person with the words, “Guest in the house, God in the house.” He who receives a guest first bestows him, but in reality, he presents the guest. Hospitality is an expression of respect, love, gratitude, friendship… Paying attention to the guest is not only politeness. We are of different moods, we have different habits, and it is right to do everything possible not to disgrace ourselves, not to embarrass the guest, and to remember the visit as long as possible.

The Gospel tells of the visit of Jesus to the house of the sisters Martha and Mary. Jesus said to Martha, who was taking care of the material arrangements for the visit: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and anxious about many things, and only one thing is needed.” And to her sister Mary, who was listening to him, he said: “Mary has chosen a better portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Lk 10:42).

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where death awaits him. He and his disciples frequently stop at the house of his friend Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. During this famous visit, words of praise are spoken to Mary and rebuke to Martha, words that should not be understood superficially. This is because the Evangelist, St. Luke, recounts the visit to Martha and Mary shortly after he told the Good Samaritan parable, concluding with the words, “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37).
The sisters had different natures. Mary had a natural inclination to peace and Martha to action. Naturally active persons find it difficult to understand those who are more contemplative. Conversely, the more contemplative persons are disturbed by the constant bustle, the work of the active persons. In Martha and Mary, Jesus points to the need to combine the two ways of life: the active and the contemplative. There cannot be a contradiction between prayer and activity. This is also expressed in the motto: “Ora et labora!” – “Pray and work”, which every Christian should implement.
We cannot feel sorry for Martha, who, at the first hearing of the words of the Lord Jesus, turned out badly. However, Jesus speaks the words of warning at her prompting when she complains to Jesus about Sister Mary in the course of her work, “Lord, do you not take heed that my sister leaves me to serve myself? Tell her to help me” (Lk 10:40). Martha thus actually conceded to Jesus the opportunity to point out the importance and necessity of her sister Mary’s actions. Jesus does not say a rebuke to Martha and a commendation to Mary in order to compare who is better and who is worse. Jesus wants to emphasize a principle: to put God’s Word before everything else.
Martha does nothing wrong. On the contrary, she wants to honor Jesus and his entourage. Mary, however, becomes a disciple by Jesus’ side. This was unusual behavior among the Jews. The rabbis excluded women from teaching the Law. They despised women, which is why a woman never sat among the teachers. Jesus wants to say that the woman is also a child of God and that she has the right to listen to the Word of God. Jesus does not belittle the work that provides for man’s natural needs. However, he wants to emphasize that this work must not forget the spiritual side.
It may happen that concern for natural things, even when guided by love, can make us anxious, emptying us, and such a state can be compared to a burning lamp. A lamp requires oil to burn. So the Christian consumed in active service to his neighbor must refill the oil, which is hearing the Word of God and meditating on its contents.
When Jesus commended the conduct of the Samaritan and urged us to do likewise in praising Mary, he meant to say that if we do not live adequately with God, we cannot behave like the Samaritan.

An image presents Jesus as the Samaritan, who has a wounded man on his shoulders and lifts him up with his own body.
This is the position of Jesus: He is under us, helping us, lifting us, and carrying us. The good shepherd with the sheep on his shoulders, or the shepherd who delivers the sheep from the thorns. We are to do likewise. The Christian is to be whole and entire, appropriate to the circumstances, in the service of God. It is not easy or simple. And that is what Jesus wants. If we do not listen to and meditate on God’s Word, we will not be able to manifest ourselves as true disciples of the Lord Jesus.
A Christian knows how to correct his feelings, reason, and will. What is against them, against God’s commands, against God’s Word, is sin.
Often we do not want to realize it at the beginning, to admit it, and it ends sadly, tragically, as Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy writes about it in his short story, So Much Earth Needs Man.

The man was told at night that he would be given as much land as he could walk around from sunrise to sunset. Sunrise caught him off guard. He set out on his journey. He was in a hurry. He thought of nothing but the land he would own. Not only was he not thinking about lunch to fortify himself and rule until sunset, but he was even more in a hurry to have as much as he could. He overestimated his physical strength. He failed to arrive at his destination. He fell down from exhaustion… On his grave were engraved the words already mentioned: “This is all the land a man needs”.

In Jesus’ admonition to Martha, it is necessary to remember if I am not greedy, gluttonous, insensitive… Do I forget to live in such a way as to gain eternal life? We understand Martha’s admonition as Jesus’ expression of love for us. He admonishes us not to make a mistake that would close heaven to us. How much more do I require on earth? How much more can I live? How am I doing? What ties my hands? Why am I not happy today? There are no words addressed to me, either: “XY, you worry and fret about many things.” Who feels in his heart the words of Jesus: “XY, you have chosen a better portion, which will not be taken away from you,” feels that they are more pleasant and beneficial. Let our style of life, habits, or meetings speak of responsibility for the soul.