The Sixteenth Sunday, Year C
Theme: Admixtures of Martha & Mary, 瑪爾大與瑪利亞的混合體
The Parish Feast Day, July 16 fell on yesterday. For one, I have to assist in two different masses, the Feast Day Mass as well as the Ordinary Sunday Mass. The gospel readings are different: the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-10) for our Feast Day as well as Martha & Mary (Luke 10:38-42). This combination evoked an interesting meditation.
The gospel of Luke depicts a Blessed Virgin Mary who is both active and contemplative. Immediately after the Annunciation, Mary travelled in haste to a town in Judah to visit her needy cousin Elizabeth (1:39). No matter whether she wanted to verify Gabriel’s message or to help the elderly Elizabeth, Mary was active. The BVM is also well-known for keeping all things in her heart and reflecting on them (2:19, 51). She was contemplative. In the story of Martha and Mary, I see the two sides of one and the same Blessed Virgin Mary. I see the active Mary hasting to help Elizabeth in Martha and the contemplative Mary reflecting on things happening in her namesake. In the story of the wedding in Cana, we see an active Mary who sought the help from Jesus her son. We also see a contemplative Mary who was able to overcome the initial “disappointment” and to quickly grasp the Lord’s will. Subsequently, the BVM was able to direct the servants to listen to Jesus’ instructions (John 2:5).
The only reasonable conclusion I can come up with is that each and every one of us is an admixture of Martha and Mary of unique proportions. In other words, each and every one of us can be a BVM! Nobody is purely active or absolutely contemplative. There must be a bit of both in everybody. Sometimes, we need to go full speed ahead in order to meet deadlines and to get things done. Times and again, we need to go contemplative in order to recoup and recharge our energy. Therefore, in my reflection of the gospel text today, I see the perennial contradiction inside everybody, an internal tension between being active and being contemplative at the same time. For some people, being active wins the upper hand most of the time, while for others being contemplative.
I suppose you would agree with me that “this one thing” is love which is absolutely good as a whole. As believers in God, not only do we know that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), but we should also obey the two commandments of love He gave us to live by: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with you whole being, and with your whole strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27, Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18). Both Martha and Mary were showing their love to Lord Jesus but in different manners. Even though Jesus employs the word “better” in the gospel passage today, I’m sure He appreciates the loves shown in two different flavours by the two sisters. Let me assure you again. Jesus appreciates the love shown by both of them. Since Martha complained (Luke 10:40), therefore Jesus took the opportunity to assure her that she has done a great job in her anxieties and concerns for all the hospitality details (10:41). After all, this is her unique personality. Martha would not have been Martha had she not taken care of those hospitality details. Indeed, she has already fulfilled the “love your neighbour as yourself” commandment! On the other hand, Mary has chosen the “better part”, viz. loving the Lord her God with her whole heart, and with her whole being, and with her whole strength, and with her all her mind! As long as Lord Jesus is there, nobody will take this away from Mary!
Put it in another way. It is not a matter of deciding which is better, being active or being contemplative. No, both are required in obeying the two commandments of love. We cannot love God with a contemplative approach alone, arguing that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth” (John 4:24) because the same John exhorts that “For whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). We must love God with both active and contemplative approaches together. Through loving the visible needy neighbour, we love the invisible God who is Spirit.
On the other hand, loving our neighbour in an active approach alone without a contemplative support, Christian charity is no different from social welfare! In fact, there is always a danger of turning Christian charity into social welfare by forgetting the contemplative side of love. We deacons are prone to such stumbling blocks in our diverse diaconate ministries. We focus too much on services without seeking God’s will! I’m sure many of the laity associations in the diocese such as Lay Prison Evangelical Organization, Legion of Mary, St. Vincent de Paul Society and The Community of Sant’ Egidio etc., to name a few, would easily fall prey to the temptation of being exclusively active in practice!
Brethren! Both the Blessed Virgin Mary and the sister of Martha remind us of the importance of staying focused on the better part of the one necessary thing, viz. loving God with our whole being. Like them, we should listen to the word of the Lord all the time. Of course, we may encounter Him in daily bible studies. But don’t forget, the good Lord also speaks to us through the people we meet and serve as well as incidents that happen to us in our daily life. Be attentive to the movements of the Holy Spirit. I’m sure you’ll be able to “sit beside the Lord at His feet listening to Him speak” (Luke 10:39)!
God bless!
2019 Reflection
Picture Credit: brokenbelievers.com
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