Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This Sunday’s Gospel passage is a story that we are all very familiar with. Martha, preoccupied with serving, is admonished by Christ who instead offers the example of Martha’s sister as having chosen “the better part.” Unfortunately this profound passage is trivialized in popular culture to be a critique on working too hard, emphasizing the necessity of rest and recreation. And though Jesus admonishes Martha’s behavior, I think it would be disingenuous not to recognize that most of us tend to excuse Martha, and maybe even secretly approve of her while either wishing we could be more like Mary or condemning those who are.

Though this sentiment is in clear contrast to Christ’s teaching in the passage, for some reason those of us who identify with Martha (myself included) don’t find much urgency in correcting this non-Christian approach to life. I think the reason for this really comes down to one thing: we simply don’t agree with the lesson proposed by its popular understanding.

A close reading of the passage, however, reveals that the lesson Jesus proposes has less to do with what Martha is doing, and more to do with what Martha is experiencing. The issue at stake here is not Martha’s actions, but rather, Martha’s heart.

Far from undermining the importance of service, Christ identifies his own mission as an act of service: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” What Jesus is correcting is Martha’s “anxious,” “worried,” and “burdened” heart! She did not recognize—as we often don’t recognize—that to serve is a blessed act and, at its best, a loving act. But when it becomes solely an exterior act, or when we allow bitterness and jealously to creep into our daily acts of service, it transforms into an ignoble act, unfitting for the kingdom of heaven.

Every day offers us a multitude of opportunities to follow in Christ’s noble footsteps in service to others. Let us ask the grace to, like Mary, rest in the joy of him who is love, especially in those moments when that love demands active service.

~Michael