May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Only one thing is important.
Only one thing can reign in the kingdom of our hearts. These are the words of the Lord Jesus to
Martha and these are the words of the Lord Jesus to you and to me. Only one thing is important.
In our readings today we hear about the hospitality that
Abraham provided for the three visitors.
Saint Paul tells us about suffering and about the call of Christ. And Martha and Mary welcome the Lord Jesus
into their home. These three readings
point to the one thing that is important.
The one important thing is union with the Lord.
Abraham and Martha sought union with the Lord through
service. In our reading from the book of
Genesis, Abraham began to welcome the three visitors as soon as he saw
them. He recognized the presence of the
Lord in those who were visiting him.
Abraham asked the visitors to remain at his tent so that he could serve
them. He offered them water to cleanse
their feet, a feast to nourish them, and a place to rest. Abraham was not only attentive to their needs,
but also to the visitors themselves.
However Martha, in our reading today, lost her focus. Martha was a great woman of faith. She was a friend of Jesus, and she would
later be one of the first people to proclaim her faith in the resurrection. But today, Martha lost her focus. Martha and her sister Mary welcomed the Lord
Jesus into their home. Martha immediately
began to prepare a meal for the Lord and his disciples. Mary, however, sat at the feet of Jesus and
listened. Both of these actions were
necessary for offering hospitality to the Lord Jesus. But when Martha became resentful because Mary
was not helping with the meal, Martha asked Jesus to tell her sister to
help. The response of the Lord Jesus was
clear. Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Martha had lost her focus. She had forgotten what was important. Martha had become more concerned about her
serving, than she was about serving Jesus.
Something had become more important than someone.
In our reading from the letter to the Colossians, Saint Paul
speaks to us about rejoicing in suffering.
Times of suffering are part of every life. For the Christian, however, times of
suffering are encounters with the sufferings of Christ. As members of his body through our baptism,
all of the sufferings of our life, particularly when we suffer for our life of
faith, are united to the sufferings of Christ for the redemption of the
world. We suffer in Christ Jesus, and
the Body of Christ suffers in us. In our
sufferings we grow in our union with the Lord.
And we grow in our union with the Lord through our life of
prayer. Mary sat at the feet of the Lord
Jesus and she listened to his words. The
Lord Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part and it would not be taken
from her. Mary would be rewarded for her
attention and devotion to the Lord and his words. She sat at the feet of Jesus. And in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy,
so do we. The Lord has promised to be
present in the Word proclaimed. We have chosen the better part this Sunday, and
it will not be taken from us.
As we now celebrate this Eucharist and encounter the Word
made flesh now made our food for the journey, let us welcome the
Lord Jesus. As the gifts are prepared
let us place all of our sufferings on the Altar, so that they will be united to
the perfect sacrifice of Christ. And let
us sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus, and recognize that union with Him is the
one important thing. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
