Gospel Reflection - 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C



Luke 10:38-42

"Mary has chosen the better part."

Part is the word that stood out to me. There are several aspects of hospitality, a word that means the friendly reception & treatment of guests in a warm & generous way.
  • opening your home & welcoming guests
  • preparing meals &/or snacks 
  • having fresh sheets on the beds & clean towels in the bathroom
  • making sure they are comfortable
  • keeping the house clean
  • sitting attentively to listen & converse
Each of those parts are important, but what would happen if we focused only on the first five things, then left our guests alone? That would negate all those efforts. Our guests would most likely feel neglected & ignored, not received warmly & generously.

Martha fretted & bustled about, worrying about caring for Jesus & His companions, while Mary sat at His feet, listening attentively. Household tasks would always be there, but Jesus would not. He was there to visit & minister to the two sisters & His companions, so Mary HAD chosen the better part. 

Just yesterday, a friend shared a post from the Facebook page "No Greater Joy." The picture accompanying the post was of a woman sitting on a pier bench facing the ocean. The post read, 

"This is my mom, doing the most important thing she ever does for her family.

She’s praying.

She’s not running around doing dishes or doing laundry or making a meal or counseling or comforting or any of the other valuable and very good things moms do. These are so important. But they are not, as my daughter once put it when she was very young, “the importantist thing.”

Mamas, when you feel like “all” you can do for your families is pray, take heart and know that of all the things you do for your families, the most important—the “importantist,” in fact—is pray."

~ shared from No Greater Joy 💛

So, yes, all Martha's work was important, but the "importantist" was that time Mary was spending with Jesus. 

Prayer is an active conversation with God. Jesus, as God the Son, was present in the Flesh & Mary's attentiveness WAS her prayer.

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