October 05 Luke 10:38-42 (Tuesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time) CONTEMPLATIVE HOSPITALITY
Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42).
The life history of St. Theresa of Lisieux reveals that she had a strong desire to die as a martyr. She believed that martyrdom is the best possible gesture of loving God. The thought of the impossibility of martyrdom being a contemplative nun really stole her peace of mind. One day while she was reading the scripture, chapters 12 and 13 of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, she was struck by Paul’s teaching that the greater gifts of Christian life like martyrdom and apostleship are nothing at all without love! She came to the realization that love is the easiest and great way to reach God! She proclaimed, “I have found out my vocation in the Church, my vocation in the church is to love.” She became a mystic of prayer life and suffering through love.
Today’s Gospel introduces the sisters of the gospel; Mary and Martha. They are doing what is needed to a guest. One (Martha) serves the Lord and Mary listens. Jesus actually does not criticize Martha because she is an exemplary model of hospitality to be practiced in our houses. Jesus is neither against hospitality nor encouraging passivity by preferring Mary’s stand. Jesus preferred Mary’s attitude of making room for Him in her heart by listening to Him over Martha’s attitude to make a room for Him in her House by serving Him. In other words, Jesus accepted the hospitality of both, but preferred Mary’s contemplative hospitality over Martha’s super activity hospitality.
Today’s gospel has a message for our spiritual as well as secular lives.
First message is to our spiritual life that, ‘Super Activism in spiritual life can be a hindrance from being hospitable to God’. Martha’s inner disposition of hospitality got poisoned by her expectation of Mary’s support. Her expectation for Mary’s support gradually becomes an irritation and then irritation grows into self-pity. Self-pity becomes resentment and finally expresses everything to the Lord in the form of a complaint. Her anxiety and complaint leads to the risk of missing the most important part of hospitality that is to make room for Lord in her heart. She forgets about what is important than serving the Lord i.e. Lord Himself. Her work for the Lord becomes the worst competitor of her love for God.
Second message is to our secular life that, ‘Super activism in our day today life can be a hindrance from being hospitable to others and to myself’. We used to adopt certain pet names for metro life namely ‘Fast Life’, ‘Busy Life’, ‘Hectic Life’ etc. Our life in the city is very much influenced by technology. Technology has accelerated our ability to accomplish tasks, more and faster. But on the other side we are not aware that it steals certain basic experiences of life to tasted, seen, heard or experienced. Fast Life takes away our freedom to experience and sometimes to wonder. Finally extreme activism dehumanizes us to the level of a machine.
We are called to be contemplative in actions where we make a room for God, others and for me in the heart. That is true hospitality. Amen.