Be the Better Part

16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 21, 2013

Luke 10:38-42

“Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her (Luk 10:42).”

  

Today’s Gospel is one of the most heartwarming stories in the Bible. Martha and Mary welcome weary Jesus who sought for a restful refuge after the backbreaking preaching ministries. Both offered the best of the two worlds: the active service and the contemplative listening. Needless to say, Jesus was delighted with both.

Yet, the story is intensified when Martha began complaining of the attitude of her sister. Here, Jesus affectionately called her name twice, “Martha, Martha,” something that he would not even bother to do to His male disciples. Reading it closely, we discover that Jesus enjoyed a tender and loving friendship with both Martha and Mary. Jesus appreciated Martha’s passionate work of hospitality, but He valued more the listening heart of Mary. Here, Jesus expressed His true humanity as well as our humanity, that human as we are, we need not only vital bodily sustenance, but also gestures that fills our souls. We want to be welcome, listened, understood and loved.

Jesus pointed out that we talk, work, and get busy in almost effortless way, yet ironically, we have to exert a tremendous effort just to be still, calm and listen to understand. Especially now, we are living in the world marked by much noise and rush: we find our identity by creating sound and moving as fast as we could. Yet, paradoxically, the more clatter we produce, the more people close their ears.

Let us focus on our young generation. Time Magazine of May 20, 2013 dubbed our present young generation as “the ME generation”. Why “ME”? It is simply because the technology and especially the internet offer us a venue to instantly turn us into ‘celebrities’. With smartphone on our hands, we could post our sentiments on the Facebook’s wall, broadcast our messages through Twitter and upload our ‘selfie’ photos in Instagram, anytime of the day! The more ‘likes’ we get, the more netizens follow us, the happier we feel. Yet, ME generation is not only about happiness and popularity. Recently, an American girl committed suicide, yet what makes it uglier is that she uploaded at YouTube a self-recorded video explaining why she would like to die and how she would end her life just before she died. This “ME generation” phenomena speak the subtle yet deeper longing of today’s young people: yearning for persons who will love and understand them. Unfortunately, instead a real person, they discover internet, and start believing that this is the ultimate reality of their lives

Jesus’ words to Martha are not only applicable but also a staggering wisdom for our generation, living two millennia after Him. Jesus spoke the truth that no things, no food, no gadgets, or no amount of money could satisfy the deepest yearning of human beings. Married man and woman work so hard to earn a living for their family and busy climbing the career’s ladder, but little time to touch the heart of their spouse. Parents might think that they solve their children’s problems by sending them to the best school or feeding them with the latest gadgets, but how much quality time we spend with our children just to listen to their little stories and sentiments? Some priests and religious become so busy with their ministries that ironically, they have no time to listen to their own brothers and sisters in their community. Only person can fulfill other persons by caring for others in the more significant ways and daring to touch the humanity of others. As He challenged Martha, Jesus also challenges us to take a better part in serving others. Yes, material help is important but it never substitute the depth of loving and listening heart. Be the better part!

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP