16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - July 20, 2025

16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C 

July 20, 2025            

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton   8:30am 

 

Dinner with Friends

 

So, Jesus is visiting with some friends: Martha and Mary. 

 

Mary is sitting and listening to Jesus. We are not told what they are talking about, but Mary is interested and taking in Jesus’ words.

 

Martha is busy putting dinner together and she eventually feels resentful of her sister Mary. She asks Jesus to tell Mary to get up and help her.

 

And, as we know, Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead, he says: “Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.

 

“There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

 

Well, the passage just ends there, but I have to think that Martha had some response. Maybe like: “Okay, Jesus, how about if you get up and fix this plate with humus and chips.

 

“Oh, and then put the rolls in the oven and keep a watch on them. And while you’re doing that, clean out this pan that I cooked the lamb in.”

 

Martha may have resented Jesus saying that “Mary has chosen the better part.” Wasn’t getting the food ready just as important or even more important than what Mary was doing? 

 

I’m thinking that many of us would identify with Martha. We might not feel so good about Jesus’ response.

 

So maybe the question to ask is this: what does Jesus mean by “the better part”? I have two ideas: one – what it definitely does not mean – and two – what I think it does mean.  

 

Definitely Not Prayer Above Action 

 

First, some commentators interpret Mary as an image or figure of prayer.

 

She is sitting, conversing with Jesus, and taking in his wisdom. These commentators say that “the better part” means that prayer is more important than our work or activity. 

 

Many other Scripture commentators – and here is where I stand on the matter – many others say that this is not the case. “The better part” definitely does not mean that prayer is better or more important than work or activity.

 

Why do they say this? Because this passage comes right after what we heard last week in the gospel – the parable of the Good Samaritan. There Jesus was lifting up compassion for others who are hurting  as being most important in our following of him.

 

So, it just doesn’t make sense to think that here, today, Jesus is teaching that prayer is more important than work or activity. This is not what he means when he says that “Mary has chosen the better part.”  

 

Definitely Awareness

 

What then does Jesus mean? 

 

 A number of good Scripture commentators hold that “the better part” means awareness. It means that we are with the Lord, aware of the Lord whether we are praying or working.  

 

Look at it this way. Jesus is a guest in the home of his friends. 

 

Mary is really with Jesus, keeping him as her focus and aware of what he is saying. On the other hand, Martha gets so deeply involved in the details of the meal that she loses the focus. 

 

She’s not really aware of Jesus. The meal has become more important than her friend and guest.

 

So, “the better part” means keeping our focus and awareness of Jesus. It means doing this no matter what we are doing.

 

Our Awareness 

 

So, for example: we are honest with our boss at work in filling out our timesheet – because of Jesus.

 

We are truthful with our parents about whether we did our homework – because of Jesus. We don’t join the crowd in bullying a classmate – because of Jesus.

 

We do grocery shopping and get meals together for our family – because of Jesus. We feel compassion for those who are homeless or impoverished – because of Jesus. 

 

This, I recommend, is “the better part.” Living our lives with some awareness of Jesus – no matter what we are doing – that’s what Jesus is reminding Martha and us to do today.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - July 13, 2025

 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C 

July 13, 2025            

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton   5pm 

 

Good Samaritan 

 

Probably we all know that in the northern part of Baltimore City, there is the Good Samaritan Hospital. 

 

I did a quick check on the internet and learned that there are at least ten hospitals in our country named Good Samaritan. There are also numerous social service centers with this name. 

 

And then, all fifty states and the District of Columbia have Good Samaritan laws. These laws differ in each jurisdiction, but they all try to encourage us to help a person who is in some emergency need.

 

These Good Samaritan laws give assurance to a person who helps that they will be free of prosecution or lawsuit. So, the term Good Samaritan has a very favorable meaning for us.

 

Because of that, we can easily miss the punch - and there is a punch in Jesus’ parable today. To get to that, let’s look at each of the persons in this classic story.       

 

The Persons in the Story

 

First, there is the victim. The story tells us that he was robbed, stripped, beaten, and left half-dead.

 

He was probably unconscious, and it was difficult to tell whether he was alive or dead. Also, without clothing and without speech, you couldn’t tell what nationality he was – and that is significant and we’ll come back to that.

 

Then there is the priest. The priests worked in the temple and led the temple sacrifices.

 

If they came into contact with a deceased person, they were seen as ritually unclean and had to go through a purification ritual. This is probably why the priest sees but doesn’t stop to help the beaten man who might be dead.

 

Next there is the Levite. The Levites were assistants to the priests.

 

The same rules for ritual cleanness applied to them. So, he also sees but doesn’t stop to help the beaten man.

 

The Samaritan

 

Finally, there is the Samaritan and here is Jesus’ punch.

 

Unlike our positive feeling for the expression Good Samaritan, in Jesus’ day the Jews really hated the Samaritans. This antipathy had been going on for centuries. 

 

So here, in his parable, Jesus is driving home a lesson by portraying the hated Samaritan as the hero. The passage simply says, “he was moved with compassion.”

 

He doesn’t try to figure out if the victim is a Jew or a Samaritan or some other nationality. He’s not concerned about whether the victim is worthy or deserving of his help.

 

The Samaritan just sees him as a person in need. He feels compassion and helps him.

 

So, Jesus is saying: if a Samaritan, someone you look down on and think is no good, if he does this, you also are to do it. You are to have compassion for others just because they are hurting – because they are beaten and at the side of the road in some way. 

 

Neighbor

 

Jesus makes this same point in how he flips the question that the scholar of the law asks him. 

 

After he and Jesus agree on the two great commandments, this man asks: “Who is my neighbor?” He seems to be thinking: if I know who my neighbor is, then I will know whom I have to love and, therefore, whom I don’t have to love. 

 

But, as we know, Jesus flips the question. Instead of asking, “Who is my neighbor?”, Jesus wants this man and us to ask: “To whom must I become a neighbor?”

 

And, of course, Jesus’ answer, as the parable highlights, is: everyone. Anyone who is beaten and lying at the side of the road.

 

So, I may show compassion by listening to a son or daughter who is feeling lost and unsure of where they are heading. Or by texting a hello to someone who just their job. 

 

I may show compassion by offering a few dollars to a man begging at a traffic intersection. Or by praying for the more than 100 million refugees in our world, and yes, praying for the immigrants in our own country.   

 

Jesus’ lesson is to be compassionate. We cannot literally help everyone, but we are called to be compassionate in some way to all those who are beaten and lying at the side of the road. 

 

This isn’t an easy lesson for me and maybe for you. But it’s pretty central to what it means to follow Jesus.