First Reading -- Abraham and Sarah show hospitality to messengers of the LORD. (Genesis 18:1-10a)

Psalm -- He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord. (Psalm 15:2-5)

Second Reading -- It is [Christ] whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. (Colossians 1:24-28)

Gospel -- Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. Mary has chosen the better part. (Luke 10:38-42)

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Reflection by Opening the Word

First Reading
In this strange yet evocative story of what the Fathers of the Church consider to be a pre-incarnational manifestation of the Lord, he appears to Abraham in the form of “three men,” two of whom are later referred to in chapter 19 as “angels.” There are many mysteries in this scene. The narrator calls these three figures “the LORD,” which is indicative of the name Yahweh, and yet Abraham, while being very solicitous toward them in the manner required by the manners of the desert, refers to the three in the singular, “My lord,” indicating not the divine name but a polite form of human address.

These three have come on a dual errand. First, they announce the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah in a year’s time, and then two of the three go off in chapter 19 to bring destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah for its immorality. The only survivors will be Lot and his family. The common element in the two very different errands is the gracious hospitality shown the heavenly visitors by Abraham and his nephew Lot. Both men, although masters of very large households with many servants (Genesis 13), wait upon these visitors as though they were servants themselves, and in each case this is the mark of their righteousness, the hospitality they show. This reminds us that courtesy is more than just good manners; it is a common hallmark of holiness.

Second Reading
The mysteries of our first reading are, in some measure, disclosed in St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The primary mystery of God’s Trinity, which is only hinted at in Genesis 18 in the three mysterious men who appear to Abraham, is evident at the beginning of this first chapter when Paul blesses the Colossian Church with the grace and peace “from God our Father” (1:2) and commends, first, their “faith in Christ Jesus”(1:4) and then their “love in the Spirit” (1:8). In addition to this central mystery of our faith, this present passage opens other deep mysteries “hidden from ages and from generations past,” now “manifested to his holy ones.” The mystery of suffering is disclosed as salvific, and even a cause for joy when we share our difficulties with Christ and allow him to make of them a share in his own afflictions “on behalf of his body, which is the church.” And we see, too, the mystery of the “hope for glory” that has come to the Gentiles, who, like the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, “once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (Colossians 1:21, RSV), but have now been made coheirs with the Jews and capable of being made “perfect in Christ.” These two revelations—human suffering and the plan for the Gentiles—represent a great wealth of mystery in just five verses.

Gospel
Although it’s not uncommon to see interpreters of this passage portray Martha as the “bad guy” in this Gospel scene, many others suggest that Martha and Mary taken together—and not just Mary alone—represent a composite of what the Christian life ought to look like. Martha, like Abraham in the first reading from Genesis, is the picture of love acting in hospitality, while Mary is the picture of pure contemplative love, gazing upon the Lord. Many religious orders since the Middle Ages, like the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits, have striven to be both active and contemplative in their approach to the service of Christ.

But in keeping with the Lord’s clear declaration that “one thing is needful” (RSV), the Church has always stressed that prayer itself is the lifeblood of service. Without that foundation, service, however extensive, becomes formal and stale because it won’t be fed by love. And we must recall that the simple contemplative gaze is also a representation of our heavenly goal, the beatific vision, when we shall see God as he is in himself. Contemplation is, we could say, heaven practice, where the one needful thing will be the one object of our constant attention and joy. With no offense meant to the Marthas among us (and within all of us), our lives as Christians should rightly express a growing simplicity of focus and less troubling of ourselves about the “many things” of life. And it is only prayer that will enable us to serve without anxiety and to care for others without getting lost in the complexities of life.
 

Meditation

In this week’s readings, we encounter a God who is willing to knock at the door of our hearts asking for a place of welcome. We see this exemplified in Sunday’s first reading from Genesis where Abraham shows hospitality to the Lord, who appears in the form of three unexpected visitors. What is Abraham’s central plea to the Lord when he appears? How does his concern connect with today’s theme of “hospitality to God”?

In the busyness and chaos of our world, we often miss when God “passes by.” In what ways do you miss God passing by in your daily life?

The Gospel story of Martha and Mary gives readers a glimpse into the proper and improper attitudes of disciples, as well as the meaning of true hospitality. How are Mary’s actions a model for Christian discipleship? What does “sitting at the foot of Jesus” look like in your own life? What was wrong with Martha’s service to the Lord?

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Reprinted from  Opening the Word at Formed.org .
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