16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle C
July 17,
2016 11:00am
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore
“The Better Part”
Three
words in today’s gospel really grab my attention.
The
words are: “The better part.” Jesus says, “Mary has chosen the better part.”
Two
sisters – Martha and Mary – invite Jesus to have dinner at their home. One sister – Mary – sits with Jesus and takes
in all that he has to say.
The
other sister – Martha – is getting the meal prepared. We might imagine that she is doing everything
– from chips and hummus, to barbecued chicken, to a pastry drizzled with honey.
Well,
finally, Martha has had enough of this.
She blurts out to Jesus to tell her sister to get up and give her a hand
in the kitchen.
And now
Jesus speaks those words. He begins, “Martha, just relax.
“Do a simple meal and don’t be so preoccupied
with so many things. Your sister Mary
has chosen the better part.”
“The
Better Part” – What It Doesn’t Mean
I see
these three words – “the better part”
– as packed with meaning.
To
begin with, Jesus is not saying that Martha’s getting dinner ready is not
important. He is not saying that working
our jobs or doing grocery shopping or cleaning up the house is less
important.
In
fact, notice that Jesus uses the word “part.” This means that Mary is doing part of what’s
needed, but it’s not the whole thing.
What
Martha is doing is also part of what is needed.
It is also important.
“The Better
Part” – What It Means
So,
what does Jesus mean by “the better
part?”
He
means that we need to be prayerfully centered on him. I think that Jesus calls this “the better part” for two
reasons.
First,
we need to stay prayerfully centered on Jesus to make sure that what we do is
of God. This helps to make sure that
all that we do flows from our relationship with Jesus.
If we
are not centered on the Lord Jesus, then we may say rash things and act disrespectfully.
What we do may be harmful to others and even
to ourselves.
And
then, we also need to stay centered on Jesus to make sure that we actually do
what we should do. So, for example,
Jesus would want us to listen well to a loved one who really needs to talk
about something.
Or he calls
us to positively reach out maybe to a neighbor or co-worker who has lost a job.
The idea is that if we are not centered
in the Lord, we may not be doing what the gospel call us to do.
This is
why Jesus calls Mary’s way “the better
part.” It helps us to be sure
that what we do is gospel-based and it moves us positively to do what the
gospel calls us to do.
“The
Better Part” – Right Now
Today. right
now, here in America, “the better part”
has an important application.
We need
to be like Mary – centered prayerfully on the Lord – to respond well to the
violence that is happening. When African
Americans experience profiling by police officers, and when they find it
necessary to assert that Black Lives
Matter, we need to be centered on Jesus.
Being
centered on the Lord will help blacks and all of us to respond in the way of
the gospel. Jesus will empower us to
seek justice and respect and dignity.
And he
will also empower us to seek this in non-violent, peaceful ways. This centeredness on the Lord will help to
make sure that what we do is gospel-based and make sure that we actually do
something and act.
This
centeredness will also help whites or all non-blacks to be open and
humble. It will move us to listen and try
to understand.
It will
move us to approach these issues with with an open mind and open heart. Again, it will help to make sure that what we
do is gospel-based and make sure that we actually do something and act.
Conclusion
So,
that’s how I see Jesus’ three words today: “the
better part.”
It
really has to do with us being centered on Jesus. Then the other part – our everyday living and
response to everything – will flow from that.
