Finding the Happy Mean

HOMILY: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 10: 38-42 

17 July 2022

Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez, AA

For the past 2 days, we served as hosts for two simple parties in the parish. Last Thursday it was the birthday of Bro. Julius and last Friday was my (15th) birthday. I always find it challenging to have guests around for celebrations. Aside from being busy with the food, physical arrangement, getting the drinks, etc., I also want to be with the guests and make sure they are taken care of. I ended up not eating anything and getting exhausted. (I missed out on the goodies but I keep the pounds off.) Seriously though, the challenge is how to be hospitable and be attentive to the guests at the same time. This can really be tricky. Nevertheless, the guests are more important than anything else.

Most of us are familiar with this gospel story about Mary and Martha. In many occasions, we must have read and reflected upon this gospel passage. I bet, many of us have identified ourselves with Martha. Si Martha ang kumakatawan sa mga taong bibong gumawa ng iba’t ibang tungkulin. Parang walang kapaguran. Mga mommy, relate na relate kayo diyan, hindi ba? Lahat kailangan inaasikaso. Those who are still part of the workforce also will know what I refer to. We priests can also be so caught up in administrative duties that we have very little time for doing pastoral work among the faithful.   Whether working from home or some other place of work, our tasks and duties have the tendency to take up all our time, sometimes overwhelming us. We tell ourselves that someone has to do the work. Someone has to do the concrete tasks of hospitality.  Someone has to do the menial tasks, etc.

In truth, there is nothing wrong with work. In fact work is blessed by God. It is a means to grace. It is how we become Jesus to others. The danger is when we lose sight of the reason why we have work, and for whom we work. Do we still take the time to pray? Do we thank the Lord for the blessing of our jobs, considering so many people have become unemployed? Do we thank God that we still have our hands, our feet, our eyes, our mouths and our minds to help us accomplish tasks set before us? Naisip ba natin kung papaano na ang buhay kung tayo’y nagkasakit o nagkaroon ng kapansanan? (This is not to demean those differently-abled, because they are to be praised for hurdling bigger challenges.) Have we ever been so overworked that we no longer have the time to appreciate and enjoy the love and company of our family? Kung lagi na lang tayo pagod at masungit pag-uwi natin sa bahay, hindi nagiging maganda ang samahan ng pamilya.

In contrast, we find Mary to be seemingly doing nothing. We are told that she was “listening to Jesus speak”. Listening to Jesus’ message is an important task of a disciple (a learner) of Jesus. “Listen!” This is what He often tells His disciples and the crowd to be doing all the time. Mary was present.  She was in the moment. She was engaged. She was being, not doing. Here listening goes beyond simply hearing but rather it involves understanding, accepting and assimilating the message so that it becomes part of oneself. Hindi lamang simpleng pakikinig ang ginagawa ni Mary. Ninanamnam niya ang bawat mensahe ni Kristo. At dahil tumatatak sa kanyang puso ang salita ni Hesus, nalalaman niya kung ano ang saloobin ng Diyos para sa kanyang buhay.

Si Mary naman yung nasa paanan ni Kristo na maihahalintulad sa mga kalma lang na nagdarasal o di kaya mahilig magmasid, makinig, mag-aral at matuto. Bilang tagasunod ni Kristo, kabilang sa ating tungkulin ang pag-aralan ang Kanyang tinuturo at mga pamamaraan. We learn from Christ’s teachings. We fill our minds and our hearts with the words of our Lord. Nagagawa natin ito pag nagsisimba tayo, nag-aattend ng bible study, prayer meeting o sumasali tayo sa mga formation talks ng parokya. Importante din naman ito sapagkat ang turo ni Kristo ang daan na dapat natin tahakin. Kung hindi natin alam ang daan, maliligaw tayo, hindi ba?  

One funny thing in our gospel story is that Mary orders Jesus to tell Mary to stop what she is doing and to make Mary help her in the preparations. Pakialamera pa si Martha, ano? Inutusan pa niya si Kristo. Martha’s complaint to Jesus seems to portray Mary as idling and even selfish. Minsan ganyan din tayo, inuutusan natin si Lord pag tayo ay nagdarasal tungkol sa mga kailangan natin sa trabaho natin. “Lord, please do this” , “Lord, give me…”, “Lord, sana madaming bilhin yung customers namin…”, etc. Tayo na ang nagtuturo sa Kanya imbes na tayo ang nakikinig sa Kanya. Wala nang “Thy will be done!” kundi “My will be done!”. In that sense we are lost.  Martha did not realize her error so she was surprised when Jesus said that Mary had “chosen the better part” which would “not be taken from her”. (Luke 10:42) Mary has chosen the better part because listening is essential to be able to do the will of God in our lives. If we do not spend time listening to God, how can we know that our endeavours are properly directed? 

Natatabunan na ba ang Salita ng Diyos dahil sa ating sobrang pagka-busy? Naririnig pa ba natin ang saloobin ng Diyos para sa ating buhay sa ingay ng maraming pinagkaka-abalahan? We can lose sight of God’s will as we get wrapped up in our many tasks, as well meaning as they can be. Last Sunday, we saw how giving loving care to a person in need is more important than fulfilment of one’s responsibilities as in the case of the Levite and the priest. The “better part” then is attentiveness to the other which will eventually express itself in loving service.

Today’s gospel encourages us to strike a balance between the two aspects of our Christian discipleship. If we find ourselves getting overwhelmed, break muna. Balanse ng konti. Humugot muli ng lakas mula sa Salita ng Diyos para magampanan ang mga tungkulin para sa katawan at kaluluwa. Service without love will not do. Prayer without action will be deficient. Finding the happy mean is a challenge and the Lord’s invitation for all of us.