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“Christ in the House of Martha and Mary”
by Cornelis Engebrechtsz, c. 1515 |
Readings for Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Galatians 1:13-24
Brothers and sisters:
You heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it,
and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.
But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,
I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were Apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas
and remained with him for fifteen days.
But I did not see any other of the Apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.
(As to what I am writing to you, behold,
before God, I am not lying.)
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
So they glorified God because of me.
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Commentary on Gal 1:13-24
St. Paul continues the defense of his authority, challenged by other evangelists who came after him to the churches of Galatia. The apostle begins this passage with a short history about his own formation in Judaism. He goes further relating how he was once the inquisitor assigned to persecute the Christians on behalf of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem (recall it was young Saul who condoned the stoning of St. Stephen, see Acts 7:58 – 8:3).
St. Paul importantly mentions: “when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace.” This is a clear reference to his parents presenting him at the temple and dedicating him according to prophetic tradition. He connects God’s action in setting him apart directly to Jesus the Son of God.
St. Paul goes on to describe his early ministry, where he was directed by Jesus in his call, without consultation with the apostles in Jerusalem, whom he only met briefly after three years. The time frame mentioned here is likely imprecise but it underscores St. Paul’s “Gospel” as being authorized and approved by St. Peter.
CCC: Gal 1:13 752; Gal 1:15-16 442; Gal 1:15 153; Gal 1:16 659; Gal 1:19 500; Gal 1:20 2154
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Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
R. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O Lord, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
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Commentary on Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
This song/prayer asks for guidance from the Holy Spirit. It recognizes that God’s Spirit is in all his creation and its knowledge is omnipresent. The idea of being called from the womb – set aside for God – is a common theme of the prophetic tradition in both the Old Testament and New Testament. We note that God sets his servants on their course from before their birth (see also Luke 1:15 and St. John the Baptist, Luke 1:31 [Jesus] and Galatians 1:15 [St. Paul the apostle]).
CCC: Ps 139:15 2270
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Luke 10:38-42
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.”
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Commentary on Lk 10:38-42
In this encounter with Martha and Mary in St. Luke’s Gospel, we see two distinct messages. First, we see the importance of the role of women and Jesus’ attitude toward them. Second we see the importance of listening to the word of God: "Mary has chosen the better part."
The selection emphasizes the importance of listening to the teachings of the Lord. While in some early texts the Lord tells Martha there is “need for only a few things,” or of one, the message is clear: Mary, in assuming the role of disciple (listening at the master’s feet) has chosen the correct or better role. Martha, concerning herself with the requirements of hospitality (old law) has chosen the lesser.
“Mystically (St. Gregory the Great, Moralia 2, 6): the two women signify two dimensions of the spiritual life. Martha signifies the active life as she busily labors to honor Christ through her work. Mary exemplifies the contemplative life as she sits attentively to listen and learn from Christ. While both activities are essential to Christian living, the latter is greater than the former. For in heaven the active life terminates, while the contemplative life reaches its perfection.”[4]
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Reflection:
The Gospel story of Jesus’ encounter with Martha and Mary invites us to consider discipleship and faith at a number of different levels. The first level, the literal level, is the way the story establishes priorities. Martha has accepted the traditional role of the woman as head of the household, responsible for providing hospitality to guests. Mary, on the other hand, chooses the non-traditional role (based upon the male-dominated traditions of the time) of disciple, sitting at the Lord’s feet with the men while Jesus teaches.
Martha objects, feeling quite put out because the one who was expected to help her was assuming a place that was not hers from a traditional/legal perspective. In Martha’s eyes, Mary was violating pharisaic law (if not Mosaic Law) governing the role of women. Responding to her objection, Jesus established a new priority. It was more important to have faith in Christ and listen to his word than it was to follow the old laws and traditions of Judaism.
When that set of priorities is applied to our lives in this age of incredible busyness, where lives are so full of obligations, appointments, expectations, and requirements of work and family, tensions can become physically and emotionally debilitating. There is a member of my faith community who actually suffers anxiety attacks because of the stress of conflicting priorities, and I am sure they are not alone. When offered the advice: “allow the Lord to take some of your load,” the response was: “I have tried and am trying, but there is so much to do, and so much money required to do it. I don’t know where I will find the time or the funds.”
Indeed, turning the practical demands of life over to Christ as suggested by the Gospel is not an easy thing to do. At some level we must try to adopt the wise adage of St. Ignatius of Loyola who is credited with saying “We must pray as if it was all up to God, and work as if it is all up to us.” The difficulty, of course, is allowing God to take his part of our burden. We always question: “Am I doing enough?” The simple answer is this; we must do all we physically can to please God first. In all we do, God’s greater glory must be at the heart of our endeavors. (from the recent feast of St. Francis of Assisi we should also be reminded of his famous advice: “Preach the Gospel always and use words when you have to.”) Once we have satisfied ourselves that our effort is applied in the right direction, we must ask ourselves if we have done all that is possible, our very best, to accomplish our task. If we honestly believe we have, and it still does not seem to be enough, we must have faith and confidence that our Heavenly Father with take up the burden we cannot lift on our own. It is so hard to do this last part and not simply fall into despair because we feel our strength or will is not sufficient for the task.
Today we pray for the strength of faith to follow the Lord’s priorities. May we accept Christ’s peace as we do all we can and leave the rest up to the Lord.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary” by Cornelis Engebrechtsz, c. 1515.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 129.
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