If we want to appreciate what is really going on in this incident with Martha and Mary then we need to understand something of the culture in which Jesus and they lived. Their world was known for its deep sense of hospitality. The idea of having someone to a meal was not simply about giving them something to eat; it was also about offering them friendship and respect. To invite someone into your home was to invite them into your life. People didn’t invite just anybody into their homes.
This makes Jesus’ words seem all the more startling. We can imagine that he may have scandalised those who were there, because he seemed to insult his host by telling her that she was fussing about too much. We can ask ourselves how would Martha have felt – especially since she seemed to be putting every effort into making sure that things were just right. To make matters worse, her sister seemed to be doing nothing and leaving all the work to her. How many times have any of us been in a similar situation – where some members of the family are just lounging around doing nothing while all the work falls to one person? Martha probably felt bitterly disappointed because she was doing everything to make sure that things were just perfect for Jesus’ visit, while Mary did nothing. To make matters worse, when
Jesus arrived he praised Mary.
I think there is something deeper going on. The sisters, Martha and Mary, are obviously offering hospitality to Jesus. Between the two of them they are ensuring that not only is he well nourished with food, but that he also enjoys their company. But something else is also happening: Jesus is offering hospitality. Mary sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to every word that he speaks. Jesus offers her nourishment for her soul and spirit. The thing about this sort of hospitality is that it needs to be consciously and deliberately received. Jesus praises Mary because she took the time to sit and listen. He doesn’t so much criticise Martha as point out that with all her activity she can only be partly attentive to what he is saying. In other words, she is not fully receiving him.
We have to be careful not to argue too much in favour of one or the other of these sisters. It is interesting that they are always spoken of together. Throughout Christian tradition they are both presented to us as a model of Christian living, representing the contemplative life and the apostolic life. At various times one or other of these ways of life may have been more prominent, but we recognise that both of them are essential to living the Christian gospel. The incident of Martha and Mary reminds us that achieving the balance between the active and the contemplative is never easy.
I wonder how we should hear the gospel speaking to us today. It strikes me that we live at a time when the lives of most people are characterised by lots of activity and noise. Think of how disappointed some people are if there is an evening when there is nothing to do. We all like to keep full diaries, as if having a spare moment might make people think we are lazy. Think of the noise that is always around us. Some people can’t work if there is no background noise. Or think of how we want everything instantaneously. We’re all taken in by instant messaging, and it is becoming quicker and more hurried. Communication these days is rapid, and people fret if they have not received a reply to their message within a few minutes. How many times have people sent a message off quickly and later come to regret it because the sentiments it expressed were not really what they meant to say? We are also capable of sending the same message to a large number of people at once. Sometimes someone receives it when it was not really intended for them. How many times has this caused alarm and even broken friendships?
If this is the context in which we live, what do we hear when we listen to today’s gospel? In the first place, it is clearly speaking about listening to the word of God, listening to the message of Jesus – but alerting us to how difficult this can be. This raises a question: how do we hear that word? Jesus’ rebuke of Martha suggests that we can only really hear him – and hear him deeply – if we make the space to listen. In the Christian tradition this has meant that we look for times of silence and stillness, when, like Mary, we lay aside the things we worry and fret about, so that we might have ears that are attentive. Jesus reminds us that listening is not really as easy as it may seem. We need to make a conscious effort to listen. We have to listen with the ears of the Holy Spirit. There is also something else the gospel can tell us – something that follows on from being able to listen to God. It is that we also need to cultivate the habit of being able to listen to one another.
Martha and Mary resonate in all our hearts. We admire their expression of hospitality, but we also hear Jesus’ encouragement not to become so busy that we lose our capacity to listen and thus to communicate fully with both God and our neighbour.
Fr Gerard Kelly
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