Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C.  July 22 2007.  7:30, 11:30, 6PM   Genesis 18: 1-10a.  Colossians 1: 24-28.  Luke 10: 38-42.

A woman who loved to run met a friend each morning for a 3 mile jog around the lake.  The two friends enjoyed getting exercise together.  They also loved to talk along the way.  One day the younger women learned that she had cancer.  She told her friend about the diagnosis and the long course of treatment that would follow.  The next day when the younger woman came to the park to run her older friend was no longer there.  She thought that something unusual had happened, but the older woman never showed up to go running again.   After a year of very difficult treatment and chemotherapy the young woman was assured by her doctor that she was cancer free.  To celebrate her new life the younger woman decided to run in a new park.  There she found her old friend running all by herself.   When she caught up to the older woman she said to her, “A year ago I told you that I had cancer and then you suddenly disappeared from my life.   I thought that you were my friend.  I don’t understand why you abandoned me.”   The older woman said, “I was horrified by the threat of cancer.  I was very much afraid for you.  I avoided you because I didn’t know what to say – I thought that I should say something, but I had nothing to say, so I avoided seeing you.”   The younger woman said, “Maybe you didn’t have to say anything.  Maybe all you had to do is to listen.”

When Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha the only thing that Martha could think about was all that she had to get done to have a guest in her home. She was so obsessed with having to do something, fix something and say something that she demanded that Jesus command Mary to help her.  Many people avoid having parties because there is so much to do.  On the other hand, some people are so involved in moving the furniture and serving the food that they miss the guests.  The words that Jesus spoke to Martha are not meant to be harsh.  He is not saying “why don’t you just chill out?”  He is saying much more than “calm down and relax.”    Jesus is telling Martha that she is missing the best part of the party.   What she needed to do most is to listen to Jesus, the guest that she has invited into her home.   No matter how much work there is to be done, listening to the guests is still the better part. “Mary has chosen the better part,” Jesus said, “and it shall not be taken from her.”

I know that raising children involves a lot of hard work and a lot of running around shuttling kids from one event to another.  I have heard parents say that if they had to do it over again they would have spent more time listening to their children and enjoying them when they were young.  Some parents slow down more to raise their youngest children.  Some do not discover the joy of slowing down and enjoying children until they are grandparents.  Yes, being parents involves a lot of hard work.  At the same time Jesus reminds parents that enjoying and listening to their children is the better part.   In our too busy world, how do we make that better part happen?

Marriage relationships also happen at a frantic pace in our busy world.  Most couples add the demands of one or two careers to the financial and other responsibilities in having a home and a family.   When a couple is dating they take time to talk and to enjoy one another.   A dating couple knows instinctively that being together and listening to one another is the better part of their relationship.  As people adjust to being married they may also adjust to getting by with little conversation, without even noticing that they no longer take time to enjoy one another.   Could it be that marriages are pulled apart and even end in our society because married couples have forgotten how to play, how to listen and how to enjoy one another.   Pressure and work may even replace the joy of a vibrant sexual relationship.  Jesus invites married couples to find ways to enjoy one another and to chose the better part of their marriage relationship.  How do married people make this happen?

God is a lot of work too.   We have to make time for prayer.   We have to make time to get to Mass on Sunday.  We need to bring our children to religious formation classes and to School.   We have to work at making moral decisions and growing in our understanding of our faith.  On top of everything else that we have to do, religion can be just one more burden on top of a lot of other burdens in our lives. We may ask, “Who needs more work?”   “Who needs more guilt about not working hard enough for God on top of everything else?”

When I was preparing to witness the marriage of a young couple recently I asked them how God would be involved in their marriage.  The groom said, “This may seem trite, but Jesus is really a good person.”  He said that he admired Jesus for his willingness to serve others.  He said that he found hope and strength in the goodness of Jesus.  This young doctor is a very busy man.  Yet he found time to notice how good Jesus is and to enjoy listening to him.  The best part of our relationship with Jesus is not in all the burdens we have to carry for him and in all the obligations we have because of him.  The best part of our relationship with Jesus is sitting at his feet, as Mary did, listening to him and enjoying him.

I have heard it said that married people sometimes stand and look at their spouse when he or she is sleeping, or that parents stand next to the crib of their baby and look with love at the little face of their child.  Sometimes we don’t take the time to look at one another and to listen to one another with love until tragedy or death strikes.  Time spent in the presence of a holy image like our new Icon of the Good Shepherd or in the presence of the Eucharist in our Adoration Chapel can bring us great peace and joy. Jesus is really a good person just to be around.  For the grace to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to his word we give God thanks and praise.