Allow The Lord To Feed You

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Rev. Buck Neely was a missionary working in an interior African village. In a few years he had baptized many people and built a church, a school and a health centre. Due to his restless work schedule he took ill and had to be flown back to his native country in Europe for treatment. After few months he returned to Africa. To his surprise and utter disappointment he discovered that the whole village had abandoned his church and turned to a local evangelical preacher. Even the church he built now had an evangelical signboard in front of it. “What went wrong?” he asked himself. “How did my flourishing mission collapse overnight?” “What did I do wrong?” he asked his former church members. One day a woman decided to unleash the truth. She said to him, “Reverend Neely, you are a good man; you did a lot for us. You gave our children clothes and built up our village, and we really appreciate your charity. But there was one thing you failed to do. You did not bring us to know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. You did not lead us to an encounter with the Good Shepherd” (Not a true life story).

Dearest in Christ Jesus, doing the work of the Lord is great. But knowing the Lord of the work is even greater and comes first. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, attending to the needs of the poor is really good, but a relationship with Jesus who identifies with the poor comes first. Social work for the sake of God is good, but an encounter with the Lord of work comes first.

Today’s gospel taken from Luke 10: 38-42 is about the story of two sisters. Both sisters loved the Lord; the Lord himself loved the two sisters. According to the Scripture, Martha and Mary lived with their brother Lazarus in the village of Bethany. It was their brother Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead. In the gospel of John the close relationship between Jesus and this family is well emphasized. While telling the story of the raising of Lazarus, John says that Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill” (John 11: 3). Jesus had a special place in his heart for Lazarus. John also says that, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11: 5). Looking closely at the Gospels, we find that Jesus and his disciples usually stayed in the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus when they came to Jerusalem. So their home offered Jesus a place of relaxation, a place to hangout.

In today’s gospel, Jesus again was a visitor to this family. As I said before, both sisters loved Jesus and each in her own way wanted to demonstrate her love for Jesus. Martha, the eldest in the house wanted to fix some food for Jesus. She was busy with the work of the Lord, and there is nothing wrong with that. But her sister Mary, like a first time lover, wanted to spend every second, minute and hour with Jesus. For Mary, sitting at the foot of Jesus, listening to him and keeping him company was her own way of demonstrating her love for Jesus. For Martha, service comes first; for Mary relationship comes first. Like the missionary Reverend in our story, Martha must have been surprised to hear the Lord say that it is relationship with him that comes first, for without it, our service is meaningless.

Many preachers usually present Martha in a bad light. But Martha and Mary are two sisters who intensely loved Jesus. Both sisters were interested in the Lord, and both wanted to please him. The difference in the two is the manner in which they go about trying to please the Lord. For Martha, service or working for the Lord comes first; for Mary, being with the Lord of work, and establishing relationship with him takes precedent

Today’s human society has many people like Martha. They volunteer at school and hospital, sit on the board of non-profit agencies, they are active in fraternal orders and community organizations. At the place of work, they work so hard to make a difference in life. They care about their children and the children of others. But in making effort to provide for their family, they get distracted by many tasks. Just as Martha’s many tasks distracted her from her relationship with Jesus, the many Marthas of today are also distracted by the various tasks they undertake. This distraction affects their availability to their family. And in their thinking, they are doing all these to provide for their family and demonstrate how much they love their family. But experience has shown that it is only a matter of time before things get out of hand. As you run around in the kitchen of the world just to feed your family, just as Martha did in her own kitchen in Bethany in order to feed the hungry Jesus, you need to realize that your everyday and every time business in the kitchen of the world can affect your relationship with your family. Sometimes, what your family needs is your being around with them in the kitchen table discussing or in the sitting room watching TV and chatting freely. Martha’s food was not enough to win the Lord’s praise; the comfort you provide for your family may not be enough to win their respect and love. Jesus needed both Martha and Mary to chat with; your family needs you to stay around them. It is not surprising that it was Mary, the one who made herself present and available that got the highest praise and commendation from Jesus, “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

The crux or punchline of this story of Jesus, Mary and Martha is all about the balance of our time. The book of Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time for everything under the sun. Now, this is my own Ecclesiastes:

There is a time to be at work, and a time to be with your family.

There is a time to chat with co-workers and boss, and a time to chat with your children and spouses.

There is a time to read the newspaper on your own, and a time to watch TV with your family.

There is a time to be on the phone, and a time to engage your family in meaningful conversation.

There is a time of devotion to earthly matters, and a time for heavenly matters.

There is a time to spend with friends, and a time to spend with God with your family.

There is a time for party, and a time for profound reflection on the meaning, significance and purpose of life.

There is a time to quarrel with your spouse and children, and a time to make up and bridge the gap.

There is a time to say “Why me Lord?” and a time to say “Thank you Lord!”

There is a time to marry, and a time to think about “Why did I get married?”

There is a time to eat and drink, and a time to think about why I eat and drink.

There is a time to talk and laugh, and a time to just relax and be.

There is a time to complain about your family, and a time to appreciate your family.

Today’s gospel is not an invitation to choose between Mary and Martha. A disciple of Jesus Christ needs to be both Martha and Mary. But this gospel challenges us to set our priorities right, to see that fellowship and relationship with Jesus, being with Jesus and hearing his Word, especially at Mass, precede the work we do for the Lord. This gospel challenges us to strive to remember that there is a time for everything. When Jesus visited Mary and Martha, he wanted just their attention; he wanted just a relaxational conversation with them. Martha did not get that. Mary did! Remember, there is a time to feed the Lord (in our own case in the poor and in the human society), but there is a time to allow the Lord to feed us. As we saw in the gospel today, feeding the Lord (in our own case, in the poor and in the human society) ranks below the feeding of us by the Lord. It is good to feed the Lord; Jesus did not condemn Martha for choosing to feed him. He only raised concern because by choosing to feed him, Mary got distracted from choosing what is most supreme in her life. He acknowledged Mary who chose to be fed by him: “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.”

You need to allow the Lord to feed you!