“Martha, Martha, you are anxious
and troubled about many things; one thing only
is necessary.” (Lk.10:41-42)
On Keeping Life Simple
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 21, 2013
Genesis 18:1-10 Colossians 1:24-28 Luke 10:38-42
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading
from the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Glory
to you, Lord.
The
Gospel of the Lord.
Praise
to You, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
Not very new anymore
We are in the 3rd
Sunday of the 7th month of 2013. The new year of 2013 is rolling on,
and suddenly it isn’t very new anymore.
Woman
`knowing her place’
St. Luke
who is writing for educated readers of the Roman Empire wants to assure them
that the new religion is no threat to their patriarchal society – a society
where a woman is expected to`know her place.’ Today’s gospel portrays Mary as
one who `knows her place.’ She is content with her passive role of sitting and
listening to Jesus. And Jesus praises her: “Mary has chosen the better part.” On
the other hand Jesus scolds Martha: “You are busy about many things, but only
one thing is necessary.” Scholars believe that Jesus’ praise of Mary who `knows
her place’ as she sits passively and wordlessly at the Lord’s feet is not so
much Jesus’ praise of Mary but St. Luke’s praise of her. For Luke wants to
tread carefully in a patriarchal society where a woman is expected to `know her
place.’
Malala indeed
`knows her place.’
Malala Yousafzai, a
Pakistani teenager, does, indeed, `know her place.’ On 9th of October, 2012, the Taliban shot her
on the left side of her forehead because she campaigned for girls' education. In the days
immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical
condition. Later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in the United Kingdom for intensive
rehabilitation.
Less than a year after being brutally attacked by the Taliban, Malala
spoke at the United Nations on Friday, July 12th 2013, her 16th
birthday. She said the "terrorists thought that they would change my
aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this --
weakness, fear and hopelessness
died, strength, power and courage was born." Youth delegates at the United
Nations stood up, gave her a standing ovation and sang happy birthday to Malala
– a woman who indeed `knows her place.’
A literal
translation
In today’s gospel Martha is out in the
kitchen cooking up a storm, and Mary is in the parlor sitting with others
(mostly men) at the feet of Jesus, and she’s drinking in his words. Martha in
the kitchen needs help and grows angry by the minute. So she breaks into the
parlor, and with undisguised agitation says to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell
her to come and help me.” Instead of chiding
Mary, Jesus turns the tables and chides Martha. “Martha,
you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing only is necessary.
Mary has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken away from her."
This is a literal translation of the original Greek,
and it’s not very enlightening. It is in fact rather vague. It has Jesus
saying, “One thing only is necessary.” But what precisely is that “one thing
only” that’s necessary? And it has Jesus saying, “Mary has chosen the better
part.” But what is that “better part” that Mary has chosen?
An
interpretative translation
There is, however, an interpretative translation of
the original Greek, which clarifies the vagueness of this passage with quaint
and folksy language, and which makes the passage come alive with a simple but meaningful
message. It goes like this:
As they went on their way Jesus entered a village, and a woman named
Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary who sat on the floor listening to Jesus as He spoke. But Martha, who
was the jittery type, was worrying about the big dinner she was preparing. She
came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it bother you that my sister isn’t
lifting a finger to help me? Tell her to get out into the kitchen where she
belongs and give me a helping hand.”
But the Lord said to her, “Martha, Martha, dear friend, you are
fussing so much in the kitchen preparing so many dishes. Keep life simple! Only one dish is necessary [a good pot of
baked beans or a good dish of pasta]. Mary chooses not to be fussing around
preparing this and that, but to sit here and recharge herself. And I’m not
going to ask her to give that up.” (Lk. 10:38-42)
Keep
life simple!
Such an interpretative translation is not
a lofty message about the superiority of the contemplative life over the active
life. It is instead a simple and practical message which bids us to keep life
simple. Keep it as simple as is possible in our complex world. Keep life simple,
for a simplified life is much better than a fussed-up life. It’s true that a
good part of life’s fuss is not of our own choosing, but this rendition of the
Martha and Mary story encourages us to take responsibility for that part of the
fuss that is of our own choosing.
Pope Francis keeps life simple.
Pope Francis keeps life simple. Before his
election, one of the few things the world actually knew about Cardinal Jorge Mario
Bergoglio was his penchant for simplicity. Here was a Prince of the Church who
took the subway to work every day, and who lived in a modest apartment rather
than the opulent archbishop’s mansion. (His Buenos Aires quarters were so
Spartan that he had to leave the oven on over weekends during winter months to
stay warm, because management turned off the heat.)
Francis
has carried that simplicity approach into the papacy. He relies on gesture
rather than elaborate pronouncement to get his point across. Instead of preaching
about the priesthood at service during his Holy Thursday Mass, he visited the Casal del Marmo youth prison in
northwest Rome and washed the feet of 12 inmates, including 2 young women and 2
Muslims. He visited a Vatican soup kitchen run by the Missionaries of Charity.
One evening Francis felt sorry for the Swiss Guard who stood at attention every
night until dawn at the door of his simple and very `unpapal' apartment in the Casa Santa Marta, and
he prepared a
`panino con marmallata’ (a little Italian bread roll spread with jam) for him.
Conclusion
A story for us
At the end of the day, the Martha and Mary
story is for us, when the tension between action and contemplation rages within
us. It’s a story for us when we are on the run too much and need to stop and
make some sense out of all our running.
The Martha and Mary story is for us, when we
are exhausted and frazzled by so many things that need to be done, and are challenged
to keep life simple -- as simple as is possible in a complicated world. It’s a
story for us, when our frazzled lives beg us to take responsibility for that
part of the frazzle over which we do have power.
Finally, the Martha and Mary story is for
us, when Church or society try to keep Malalas `knowing their place’ instead of
helping them to `take their place.’
