July
17, 2016
16th
Sunday in Ordinary time
Genesis
18:1-10a; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42
Four years ago,
Forbes magazine made a study about the most hospitable country in the
world. The results of the survey showed
that Philippines is the friendliest and the most hospitable nation in Asia. Why
do you think Filipinos are considered as good hosts? Is it because of the food?
Other countries have better food than us. Is it because of the lodging? Other
countries have better accommodations. I think what makes us good hosts is the
way we make our guests feel special and important.
Our readings for
this Sunday are actually about hospitality. We are talking here not just about
welcoming guests but more of welcoming Jesus in our lives. We actually have two
models of hospitality to Jesus in today’s gospel: the way of Martha and the way
of Mary. Which of the two is a better host? What can we learn from the the
hospitality of Martha and Mary?
Let
us reflect on this in three points:
MARTHA
WELCOMED JESUS INTO THE HOUSE. We see in Martha the usual way of
welcoming a guest. Martha welcomed Jesus by inviting Him to the house. Martha
wanted to give the best for Jesus. Martha wanted Jesus to feel at home and
comfortable in their house. This explains why Martha is busy doing all the
physical preparations - cleaning the house, getting water from the well,
cooking the food and so on.
I remember whenever
we would have visitors in the house, everything will be special. It was like an
instant fiesta in the house: from the food, to the utensils to the decorations
and so on. This is similar to what Abraham and Sarah did in the first reading.
They welcomed the visitors and provided what they need: they offered water to
wash their dusty feet and prepared food.
Here we see the hospitality and generosity of the hosts to their guests. This
is how we can also describe Filipino hospitality – we think of what’s the best
for our guest.
What about Mary?
How did she welcome Jesus?
MARY
WELCOMED JESUS INTO HER HEART. Perhaps Mary, the sister of Martha,
realized that Jesus visited them not primarily because of the food or the
accommodation. Jesus perhaps visited them because he wanted to share something
to them. Because of this sensitivity of Mary, she offered Jesus her time, her
listening ear and her full attention. This is how Mary showed her hospitality
to Jesus.
Isn’t it that
when we have guests in our house, we often decide how are we going to welcome
them? We decide what food to cook, we give schedules for the tour of our guest
and many more. But do we bother to ask the guest, do we bother to listen to the
guest, how he/she must be welcomed? Listening is important. If we prepare food
for the guest without asking if he or
she has any allergies, we might end up preparing food that is not good for the
health and well-being of the guest. Whenever we priests are invited to a
celebration, we are often given a special seat so that we will not anymore queue
in the buffet table. But what happens is that when the host gets food for us,
the host will get the food he/she wants. The volume of the food is measured according
to the capacity of the host and not of the guest. That is why as much as
possible, I insist to fall in line and get food for myself.
My dear friends,
listening is an important part of hospitality. This is what Mary did. She sat
at the feet of Jesus and listened to Him. Who is the better host between the
two?
A
GOOD HOST FIRST LISTENS TO JESUS AND ACTS ON HIS WORD. We are
not saying that Martha’s hospitality is not a valid way of welcoming
Jesus. It is. But let us not forget that
we must complement this by listening to Him and welcoming His Word. This is
actually the reminder of Paul in the second reading. He is urging the
Colossians to welcome Jesus, welcome every word that comes from him. In a
certain sense this not easy. Because this implies that we must welcome even
those which we find it difficult to accept.
Mary did not
tell Jesus, “Tell me only the things I want to hear.” This is not hospitality.
When Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, she listened to everything that Jesus told
her. Perhaps it included even those
which are not easy to accept and believe. The same is true with our life.
Welcoming the Lord in our life means welcoming every word that comes from Him –
even those which might challenge or disturb us. If Jesus says, “love your
enemies” will you welcome that? If Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give
it to the poor” will you welcome that? If we are to be hospitable to Jesus, we
must welcome every word that comes from him.
What kind of
hosts are we to God? Let us pray that we may welcome Jesus not only in our
homes but also in our hearts. Let us welcome the Lord as He wants it. Yes, it
is a good thing to serve the Lord like Martha did. But let us complement it by
listening to the Lord, like Mary did, so that our acts of service may flow from
welcoming Jesus into our lives. Amen.
