What a delightful story from the book of Genesis today; so simple and yet so profound! Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent; it’s hot, the hottest part of the day. He looks up and sees three men standing nearby.

  So far nothing too remarkable – a man sitting by his tent on a hot day looks up and sees three men. Normally, we would expect him to give a casual greeting to the visitors, ‘G’day’, but check out Abraham's reaction: As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground.

  As soon as he saw them he got up from his comfortable seat in the shade in the hottest part of the day when no one feels much like moving and ran from the entrance to the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground.

  With great warmth and irresistible delicacy Abraham welcomes his visitors and begs them to stay. He minimises the trouble they will cause him and offers a little water and a little bread but then goes off to prepare loaves, meat, milk and cream – he has the bread freshly baked and chooses a calf which is fine and tender.

 A certain Catholic missionary was doing a very good job in his mission village in the African interior. In a few years he had baptized many people and built a church, a school and a health centre. Owing to his restless work schedule he took ill and had to be flown back to his native country in Europe for treatment. After many months he was well enough to return 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 his flourishing mission collapse overnight. “What did I do wrong?” he asked his former church members. The truth hit home one day when a woman said to him, “Father, you did a lot for us. You gave our children clothes and built up our village. But there was one thing you did not do. You did not bring us to know Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour.” Doing the work of the Lord is great. But knowing the Lord of the work comes first.

 Today’s gospel is the story of two sisters, Martha who is busy with the work of the Lord, and Mary who is more interested in knowing the Lord of the work. For Martha service comes first, for Mary relationship comes first. Like the missionary in our story, Martha must have been shocked to hear the Lord himself saying that it is relationship with him that comes first, for without it our service is meaningless.

 There are people who see Martha in this story as the material girl and Mary as the spiritual one. The association of Martha with materialism is easier to make in the English language where the name Martha seems to rhyme with the word “matter.” But this way of thinking in terms of separation between spirit and matter does not belong to the gospel of Luke. Rather Luke presents Martha and Mary as two sisters who are both interested in the Lord, two women who both want to please the Lord. The difference between them is the manner in which they go about trying to please the Lord. Martha takes the way of service or working for the Lord. Mary takes the way of relationship or being with the Lord.

 Mark tells us that when Jesus called the apostles to follow him, he called them for a dual purpose: “to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message” (Mark 3:14). The need, on the one hand, to be with the Lord, to know him, to fellowship with him and be nourished by his word and, on the other hand, to do the Lord’s work, to serve the Lord in others, to proclaim his message of love in word and deed, brings us to a conflict. Which one comes first? How much of my time should I devote to being with the Lord, to prayer and listening to God’s word, and how much time to doing the work of the Lord? In spite of the urgent need to throw ourselves into the work of the Lord, it is only logical to say that my relationship with the Lord of the work comes before my involvement with the work of the Lord.

 The point of the story of Jesus with May and Martha is not to invite us to choose between being a Martha or a Mary. The true disciple needs to be both Martha and Mary. The point of the story is to challenge our priorities so that we come to see that fellowship with the Lord, being with the Lord and hearing his word should always precede the work we do for the Lord. Do we have a program of daily fellowship with the Lord? Many people fulfill this by assisting daily in the Eucharist where they can also hear the word of God. Others schedule a holy hour or quiet time when they can pray and read the word of God. Whatever way we fulfill this need, today’s gospel invites all Christians first to be a Mary who sits with devotion at the Lord’s feet listening his word, and then also to be a Martha who throws herself with energy into the business of serving the Lord.

 William Barclay, a famous Bible scholar, has this beautiful illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church:

 Suppose a great doctor discovers a cure for cancer. Once that cure is found, it is there. But before it can become available for everyone, it must be taken out to the world. Doctors and surgeons must know about it and be trained to use it. The cure is there, but one person cannot take it out to all the world; a corps of doctors must be the agents whereby it arrives at all the world’s sufferers.

 That precisely is what the church is to Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that all people and all nations can be reconciled to God. But before that can happen, they must know about Jesus Christ, and it is the task of the church to bring that about. Christ is the head; the church is the body. The head must have a body through which it can work. The church is quite literally hands to do Christ’s work, feet to run upon His errands, and a voice to speak His words.

 The identity of Christ with the church was the first lesson that Paul learnt in his life as a Christian. Before his conversion Paul, then known as Saul, saw Christians as a bunch of infidels deserving of death. When Christ appeared to him in a vision as he rode to Damascus to persecute the Christians there, Christ’s first words to him were: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4) The voice came from heaven, so how could Saul be persecuting Christ on earth? Paul then understood that the heavenly Christ and the earthly church are one and the same thing. What you do to the church you do to Christ.

 The vison on the way to Damascus taught Paul that even though Christ was already enjoying divine glory with the heavenly Father, it was still possible for him to suffer through the suffering of Christians. That is how Paul came to the realization that the church is the body of Christ. When he says in today’s second reading from the letter to the Colossians that “in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (Colossians 1:24),” he does not mean that the suffering of Christ by which he redeemed us was deficient. He only meant to underline the fact that so long as Christians are suffering persecution in this world, Christ was still suffering, in his body, that is. When we realize that Paul wrote this letter from prison (verse 4:3) in Rome where he and other Christians were still being persecuted for their faith, then we see why he understands their suffering as Christ’s ongoing suffering. When Christians suffer, Christ suffers.

 Paul says of the church, “I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you (verse 1:25).” For Paul being a servant of Christ and being a servant of the church are one and the same thing. There is no separating Christ and the church. What you do for the church you do for Christ.

 There is a funny game in which people are asked, “If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be, and why?” Some say they would like to be a mango, delicious and irresistible; others that they would love to be an apple, hard but good for your health, and yet others a cactus fruit, thorny on the outside, but delicious in the inside. Today, we could play a similar game. If you are the body of Christ, what part of Christ’s body are you? Are you Christ’s feet bringing him to other people, like the Eucharistic ministers bringing Holy Communion to the sick? Are you Christ’s hand wiping away the tears of the afflicted or helping to put a roof over the head of the homeless? Or are you Christ’s mouth announcing Good News to the poor? As a church we are Christ’s body. As an individual, what part of Christ’s body are you? What are you contributing to the well-being of Christ in his body, the church? Each of us is invited to answer this question for himself or herself today.

 Abraham’s excitement as well as his eagerness to serve his guests is clearly evident. He hastened to find Sarah and told her to hurry and make loaves. Then running to the cattle he chose a calf and the servant hurried to prepare it.

  Food in hand he now goes to the three men and spreads all before them. While they eat Abraham remains standing, a sign of respect as well as of readiness to spring into action should they need something more.

  For all the hurrying and running there is never a sense of ‘breathlessness’ in this account. Abraham remains peaceful and in control, whether he is doing the serving or standing by as his guests dine. It is clear that Abraham considers all that he does as a welcoming of the three visitors, as an expression of his hospitality.

  Perhaps this would be a good moment to move to the Gospel. Now it is Martha and Mary who receive a visit from the Lord, this time in the person of Jesus. Martha welcomes him and gets busy with the serving; Mary sits down by his feet and just listens to him speaking. It’s not long before Martha comes to the Lord, distracted and annoyed.

  Perhaps you will share with me my long held conviction that one of the things disastrously wrong with us is our activism; it’s everywhere in the world and everywhere in the Church. Martha was obviously an activist and she shares the fate of all activists, she became distracted and angry.

  How many catechumens, thinking that being a Catholic is a series of things to do rather than a person to become, follow down the same path and soon stop attending Mass? At any rate, Martha approaches, or perhaps more exactly, reproaches Jesus.

  First there is a recrimination aimed at the Lord: Do you not care …? Then an attack against her sister who was leaving her to do the serving all by myself. Next there is an order, thinly disguised as a request, that the Lord should set Mary straight.

  Somehow the Apostles in the sinking boat come to mind. They, too, accuse Jesus: Do you not care …? The waves were threatening to sink the litle boat and they were afraid, and they wanted Jesus to be just as afraid as they were. ‘What’s wrong with you Jesus? We are going down and you don’t seem to care. What’s wrong with you?’

  It’s all too often the case with people who are angry or afraid or hurt – they want the rest of us to justify their feelings by sharing them. Martha wanted the Lord to get upset and couldn’t understand why he wasn't. She wanted the Lord to correct Mary but instead she receives a correction herself.

  The apostles in the boat were afraid; Martha just liked to worry and fret. Mary had learned that only one thing is necessary – the Lord – and it would not be taken from her.

  Ask any priest - when does the phone ring and when is there a knock at the door? Just at that moment when he has sat down for a meal, or curled up in the armchair to read or for a brief snooze.

It can be a difficult and demanding life. A priest lives over the shop: everyone knows where to find him. While the Doctor or the Counsellor or the teacher can clock off and go home, people can call at any hour the day or night on the priest. His address and his phone number are never confidential, they are always public. It can be a life surrounded by people, and yet also a very lonely life, in a very large house with his microwave meals.

And of course there are priests who struggle, priests who fall sick, priests who become frustrated or dejected or angry. As a bishop once said to me ‘Most people go to Church in spite of the priest, not because of him’. Some priests are popular, but no one can please everyone. Some priests think there are only two ways of doing something: ‘My Way, and the Wrong Way’, while others lack confidence even in their own obvious abilities. It all comes down to this - priests are human, we are sinners, earthen vessels, flawed and imperfect.

 It’s difficult for us to imagine the importance attached to hospitality in the culture in which Jesus lived 2000 years ago. Being invited to eat in one’s home was of tremendous significance. It was not only a sign of honor, it also was a statement about closeness, closeness that amounted to saying “you’re one of the family.” Inviting someone into your home today is very meaningful, but back then it had the greatest significance attached to it. Martha was engaged in a very important service. Because it was Jesus who was the invited guest, it was even a holy service. We need to see that Jesus was certainly not criticizing Martha or her efforts. As a matter of fact we should note that Martha’s love was more fervent than Mary’s. Why? Because before Jesus had even arrived at their home, she was ready to serve him. And remember that when Jesus came to their house to raise their brother Lazarus from the dead it was Martha who ran to him and came out first to welcome him. Along with all of this we need to see that virtue is not found in only one aspect – it is expressed in many ways. In the gospel account just read, we see St. Luke presenting Martha and Mary as two sisters who both want to please the Lord. And in fact, both do please Him. The difference between them is that Martha’s path, hospitality and caring for others, does not have consequences that last forever. Mary’s path, however, being close to the Lord by sitting at His feet and taking His words into her heart, has eternal consequences, consequences that pass beyond human life here on earth. Martha takes the way of service, the path of working for the Lord. Mary takes the path of relationship -- being with the Lord. One path involves doing; the other path involves being. Service of God is transitory; listening to and taking in the word of God is eternal. The former is not as necessary as the latter. Only one thing is necessary: union with the Lord. There’s much to be done for the Lord, and there’s much to be done for God’s people. Caring for the hungry, the homeless, the neglected, the underprivileged and the marginalized are very much a part of what we, as the followers of Christ, should be all about. After all, didn’t Jesus set the example? To reach the soul, one must begin with the body. The one necessary thing, however, is union with God. We, in our culture, seem to have developed the attitude that says: “If you favor A, then you’re against B, C, or D. Presently the Catholic Church suffers a lot of criticism based on that mistaken attitude. For instance, when the Church states that it favors male priests the cry immediately goes up that the Catholic Church is against women, even, we are told, that it hates women, and that the bishops are male, chauvinists who always discriminate against women by keeping them down as second class members of the Church. On another question we’re told that the Roman Church considers marriage to be “second class” because it prefers celibates to be its priests. We need to ask ourselves: Does favoring one thing mean rejection of all others? To return to St. Luke’s gospel, recall an earlier event in Christ’s life when He was invited to a Pharisee’s house and was snubbed by His host. It was customary in those days to receive dinner guests by washing their feet, giving them a welcome kiss, and perfuming them with sweet smelling oil. The Pharisee did not honor Jesus with any of these gestures. We can only surmise that the snub was deliberate – an indirect statement of disrespect. During the meal a woman “with a bad reputation in town” approached Him, washed His feet with her tears, wiped His feet with her hair, covered them with her kisses and then anointed them with precious oil. It shocked everyone while at the same time revealing the hypocrisy of his host. Jesus said to His host: “Simon, do you see this woman? I came into your house and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed by feet with precious ointment.” Do we, with Martha, welcome Jesus into the house of our hearts? In today’s gospel account we need to see that Jesus is not asking us to choose between being a Martha or being a Mary. To be fully a disciple of Jesus we need to be both Martha and Mary. Furthermore, we need to see that in order to be a good Martha, we must first be a good Mary. It is absolutely necessary to see who we are, what we’re doing with our lives, and what our lives, filled as they are with so very many activities, are all about. What does God want me to be doing? Is what I am doing pleasing to God? Quiet times, times of reflection, and times spent in “sitting at the feet of the Lord” while listening seem to regarded these days as luxuries. In truth, they are not – they are absolute necessities. Some translations of the bible have Jesus saying to Martha, “Only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen it and it will not be taken away from her.” Be honest with yourself now, and ask yourself these questions: Is my life focused? Do I have a singleness of purpose in my life? Am I leading a holistic life – a life directed clearly toward a purposeful goal? If you have trouble answering those questions then you need to put some time of reflection into your life. You need to “sit at the feet of the Lord”, so to speak, and recover ‘the one thing that is necessary’ and that is missing in your life. Otherwise you’ll be “worried and concerned about many things,” doing all sorts of things, and feeling as if you’re accomplishing little, if anything. Fear may, perhaps, be holding you back – fear that God may be angry with you. Try as best you can to set that fear aside. Find a place of solitude and silence. Begin by simply telling God that you love Him and want to do what He wants you to do. Have the courage to do that based on the knowledge that God loves you and wants you to experience His love. We know that to be true because that’s the core message of Jesus Christ -- and you can rely on it. Then in that silent solitude, let your conversation with God begin. Years ago, back in 1954, one of the greatest Christian writers of our times, Romano Guardini, wrote a wonderful book simply titled The Lord. In it he said “For the greatest things are accomplished in silence – not in the clamor and display of superficial eventfulness, but in the deep clarity of inner vision; in the almost imperceptible start of decision, in quiet overcoming and hidden sacrifice.” Light, God’s light, is overcoming the darkness that surrounds our souls. Peace, God’s peace, is overcoming the fear in our hearts. Love, God’s love, can overcome our inner loneliness. His presence, power and love patiently waits for us, waits for us to come, sit at His feet, and let Him speak His words, His life-giving words of love, deep within our hearts. Two Marys have shown us the way – Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, our own Mother Mary. Ask them to help you.

 By Bishop Kasomo Daniel

 The Bishop of The Society of St.Peter and Paul (SSPP)