A Prayer Without Words: The Lesson Jesus, Martha and Mary Teaches Us Today! (TA)

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A Prayer Without Words: The Lesson Jesus, Martha and Mary Teaches Us Today!

 

The Lord be with you. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

Jesus entered a village where a woman, whose name was Martha, welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary, who sat beside the Lord at his feet, listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.

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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Homily

I’m not going to ask for a show of hands with regard to how many of us here are worried about many things.

This is a fascinating constellation of readings that the church places before us today. On the one hand, one might say, there’s no real connection between them, and yet at the very heart of things, there’s a very strong connection. Because we have placed before us in this place here today four different ways of relating to the Word of God.

We gather here at this Shrine dedicated to Our Lady beneath this lovely statue, and we are reminded of that one who most truly hears the Word of God and puts it into practice. But in our first reading as well, we have the account of the preaching of Jonah in the city of Nineveh. Jonah, as we know, is the reluctant prophet.

The Reluctant Prophet

And note what that means. He’s the one who heard God call him. Who heard God say, Go to Nineveh and preach. And Jonah refuses. In fact, he tries to go to the other side of the world. Famously, he is swallowed by the fish. Spit back up on the beach and goes to preach, but not because he wants to. And so, we have this messenger, this messenger called by God to share his word who wants nothing to do with that.

He wants nothing to do with the mission. He would flee from that message. And it’s only when he has no choice left. That he can go now and deliver the message. And so we see the reluctant prophet who doesn’t even want to be doing this arriving at the gates of Nineveh and walking through the enormous city, proverbial in the ancient Near East, for the violence of its people.

The Reluctant Prophet Delivers God’s Message

And as he walks through that city, before he can even complete one tour across the city, his word has an effect. What a word it was, 40 days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed. And as he’s shouting that out, something odd happens. Because if there ever was an off-putting word, that is the one. And yet, this people, so wicked, so sinful, this people is struck to the heart and responds almost immediately.

Note the contrast. Note the contrast. And what do we see? We see a ridiculous degree of response. One has to smile at it and even laugh a little bit because even the animals are covered with sackcloth and ashes. Even the animals by order of the king must cry out in repentance to God. And so, we have this remarkable scene of the king and the people.

All responding together to what the Lord has said to them, even to the extent of the cows mooing their repentance heavenward. What are we to make of that? Note how quick, how thorough, and how deep the response. On the chance that maybe God will relent and not punish us as he has just threatened. But now if we look a little closer at what that means.

Stopping To Hear . . .

Everybody in Nineveh had many things to do. The king had many things to worry about. All of those families had many things that were preoccupying themselves. And note what happens. Suddenly they realize only one thing matters. And so daily business stopped. The normal chores of the household stopped. The affairs of government stopped.

Everything that seems so crushingly and critically necessary and important just a day earlier no longer seems so important at all. Because the Word has struck the heart, and I must respond. Note the power of that, the power of this example, an entire city stopping because it has heard the word. And with that in mind, now we turn to the gospel, and we see that Jesus passing through this area is received, we hear, by a woman named Martha.

. . . The Word

And so it begins with what we’re all taught to do. You receive Jesus. You open the door to him. Jesus is in her home. And as a good hostess, she is responsible for her guest. And she busies herself with all of the things that she needs to do. Her sister, however, simply goes to Jesus and sits near him as he speaks.

And what do we see? You can almost imagine this. Martha doing all of this work, needing help, and not having any. Martha doing all of this work and appreciating an extra set of hands, but they’re sitting over there next to Jesus. Moreover, Martha doing all of this work, and every now and then glancing over, yes, she’s still with him.

And you can feel the frustration, the anger building up in her. Why is it that I have to do everything? And again, I’m not going to ask for a show of hands for how many people regularly feel this. But just note, note it just building in her. Why is she not with me? And why is she not helping me? Why do I have to do all of this and what is happening as she’s doing all of this and getting more and more upset, Jesus is speaking and notice what she’s not doing.

The Choice

She’s not hearing. She’s missing it all. And she’s probably even saying to herself, I’d like to sit down and listen to Jesus too.

And so she turns to the Lord and says, make her get up and help me. Jesus says, no. Why don’t you sit down right here? Because there’s nothing, you’re doing . . . that’s more important than being with me right now. Note the answer. It’s not that what she was doing was useless. It’s not that that work doesn’t need to be done.

But it doesn’t need to happen now. So Jesus says to her, you are so preoccupied with all of this. You’re missing me. I am in your house right now. But where are you at the sink with the dishes? I am in your house right now, speaking to your family. And where are you sweeping the floor and taking the garbage out?

That can wait. I’m here now. What a powerful . . . powerful moment this is. And again, note two contrasting relations to the word. Both welcome Jesus, but one welcomes him and then moves on to everything else that has to get done. As if opening the door to Jesus is another thing I check off my list. Okay, he’s in, he’s got a cup of coffee, he’s sitting down, now I can get back to . . .

And if we’re honest with and about ourselves, doesn’t this describe our spiritual lives all too often? Where on the one hand, we welcome the Lord into our life, and yet on the other hand, we pay Him very little attention. Because there are so many things to take care of. So many things to do. The simple fact of the matter is we often find ourselves saying, I have no time.

Making Time . . .

I’d like to pray more, but I have no time. I’d like to do some more reading of scripture, but I’m always tired. Notice how there’s always something else. There’s always a reason not to. And the reason not to is because my time has been invested elsewhere. My attention has been running someplace else. The Lord is here, he’s speaking, and I miss it not because he’s not speaking to me, but because I can’t be bothered to slow down and take a moment with him to catch my breath and hear him.

We are odd people like that. We assume that I don’t hear the Lord. And we assume that the Lord has nothing for me. And he might be sitting at my side with blessing in his hand, but I’m looking elsewhere. I’m doing something else. So, know what the Lord says, there is a better part. It’s not that what Martha has is not a good part, but there is a better part.

And so, the Lord says, come out of the good part. What you’re doing is good, but it’s not the best. Come to the best part. Linger with me. Sit with me. The work can wait. It will still be there waiting for you when we’re done. I promise you that. But I’m here now. And we see here in his own way, Jesus very gently calling her to respond to a certain degree like the Ninevites did.

. . . To Hear the Lord

The word has been spoken now, and so I need to move now. I need to do something today, not tomorrow. And so, Jesus says to Martha, I’m here now. I’m not going to be in your house in this same way tomorrow, because I move on. But I’m with you now, and you will lose my visit if you can’t slow down. How absolutely powerful that is.

It is a truth that, as simple as it is, we readily struggle to master and struggle to really make our own. And we clergy are no different with that. Because the details of managing a parish, the details of running a shrine, the details of all the work one must do, if one isn’t careful, Crowd out the fact that the Lord is here now.

And the important thing then is to be with him. While he is present. And then we fall into the trap of making certain convenient statements. My work is my prayer. So let me be blunt. If your work is your prayer, you’re not praying. Okay? If all you have is your work and that’s your prayer, then you’re not praying.

Because for work to really be like a prayer, it has to flow out of and be related to a prayer that is also at rest. A prayer that is also dedicated time for the Lord. Because prayer, more than anything else, before prayer is talking to God, prayer is two things. It is time and attention. That we give to God, because I can’t really be with you if I don’t give you my time and I don’t give you my attention, then we can talk.

The Lesson: . . .

But before prayer can be talking to God, there has to be the gift of time and attention. And this is what Jesus is saying to Martha, your activity, your service is wonderful, but I need a little time with you. I need your attention right now. You pay your attention to so much. Give a little to me. Come and sit here and rest from that work and listen to me.

Let the working flow out of your being with me rather than carry you away from me. What a marvelous, marvelous invitation that is to the Lord. And it’s good that we hear it at Mass, where in just a few moments, this same Jesus is going to be here on this altar, and he’s going to come to each and every one of us to be received into the household of our hearts.

Before Prayer Can be Talking to God, There Has to be the Gift of Time and Attention

But who’s in that household today? Who is binding the house of my heart today? Is it perhaps Martha in all of her distracted busyness.

If that’s the case, I’m going to receive the Lord, and I’m going to go back to my bench, and I’m going to start planning my day. And I’ll forget about Him just a few seconds after I’ve received Him. It’s not that He’s not with me, but I am allowing my concerns to carry me away from Him. Or, is Mary minding the house today?

In which case, receiving the Lord, and as I return to my bench, and I sit and rest a moment, will I sit at His feet, listen to Him, and pay attention to Him? That’s the essence of thanksgiving after Holy Communion. It’s something we rarely speak about. But it is one of the most important prayers that any Catholic can say.

A Prayer Without Words

It doesn’t have specific words, but it has a specific requirement. We who have received the Lord should attend to Him. The time for service is later. But while He is with us in that moment of intimacy, to give Him the gift of our attention, to take even just a couple moments of time, be it to thank Him. Be it to ask his help, be it to simply apologize to him for the indifference that we have, how powerful that really becomes.

So, the Lord just leaves us with that question. I come to your house today, Martha or Mary, who are you today? What an important question that is. Amen.