SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YR C
Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalm 15;
Colossians 1:24-28; Luke
DO NOT BE PULLED AWAY MARTHA
Today, Jesus visits one of his favourite families and the two sisters of the family welcome him in their own way. Mary remained with Jesus to keep him company while Martha went about to provide the best hospitality to Jesus. But Martha was worried that her sister did not help with what she was doing.
When we look at Luke’s description and the words of Jesus, we learn a lot;
First of all, Luke said Martha was distracted. The emphasis here is not on her service but the fact that she was distracted by the service. The Greek word used is “perispaoo” which means to be “pulled way”. In the case of Martha, she was pulled away from the Lord by her desire to serve and make the Lord feel welcome.
We must also take note not to be distracted by anything when we come before the Lord Jesus. Today many people are distracted by their mobile phones. Many people today are more interested in recording the moment on their phone than living the moment.
When we come for mass, we come before our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and God, our Father, whose presence we are not worthy of except by his mercy. We must be attentive. What is pulling you away from the Lord?
We must learn not to be distracted or pulled away even by service in the Church. We must recognise the real reason for our gathering, which is worship of our Saviour and growing in love of Him. May we not allow anything to pull us away from the Lord.
Martha came to complain to Jesus about her sister, Mary, and somehow blamed Jesus when she said, “do you not care?”. This happens to us many times when we do not focus on Jesus even our service in the church. When Christ is not the centre of what we do, we begin to feel isolated and cheated. It leads us to blame others and play the victim. Every service in the church must spring from our deep connection and relationship with Jesus. It must be the fruit of our spiritual life.
Secondly, in an answer to Martha, Jesus told Martha, “You are anxious and troubled about many things”. The Greek word used for “anxious” – “merimnaoo” comes from the verb “to remember”. This means that Martha had a lot of things on her mind that she was missing the thrill of the moment. She was so concerned about providing hospitality. She did not want to disappoint Jesus.
This same word is used in Luke 12:22 where Jesus told the disciples, “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will wear…but seek first the kingdom of heaven”. We, too, have a lot on our minds as we come before the Lord. We have emotional, financial and psychological burdens that we carry.
Today, whatever is on your mind, we pray that Jesus will give you peace. For those of us who are anxious about what life holds for us, those who feel unappreciated enough and all those fighting silent personal battles that no one knows, may we focus on Jesus.
Jesus invites you to place all your anxieties at his feet. When you attend Mass, never miss the opportunity of his presence. Place all your anxieties, fears and worries on the altar and in the hands of Jesus, and rest in the peace and joy of his presence.
May nothing pull us away from the thrill of being with the Lord and growing in love of Him and may He free us from all our fears, uncertainties and anxieties.
God bless you.
By Rev Fr. Delight Carbonu
