Martha and Mary - 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Dom Peter
When Cardinal George was here about seven weeks ago, he recounted an anecdote from the time he was a young priest. He was looking for ways to increase discussion in a committee, and when he asked for advice from an older priest, it was suggested that he start talking about Martha and Mary. So I beg your indulgence this morning as I attempt to say something fresh on this somewhat controversial story, and not only that, but I need to do so seven weeks after my cardinal archbishop has preached on the same story seven weeks earlier.
The controversy stems from an interpretation of the story that, while having its roots in the reading of the Church Fathers, was not really standardized until the high and late Middle Ages. Mary was taken allegorically to be a symbol of the ‘contemplative life’, lived by monks and nuns in cloisters, dead to the world, attentive only to the voice of the Lord. Martha, who in this interpretation doesn’t come off very well, figures in the allegory as a type of the ‘active life’ lived by the laity and secular clergy as well as by the newer orders, first the Franciscans and Dominicans and then somewhat later the orders of hospital sisters, servants of the poor, and so on. The active life was seen to be less impressive and perhaps less meritorious than the contemplative which, after all, would seem to be the better portion chosen by Mary.
In more recent times, especially through the fruits of Vatican II, we have a much livelier sense today perhaps of the Church as the Body of Christ in which every member is called to holiness, not merely those graced with the charism of contemplative life. The goal ‘that we may present everyone perfect in Christ’, to use St. Paul’s phrase in the second reading, really means everyone; perfection is attainable even outside the cloister. There are varieties of service but the same Lord. Both Martha and Mary are engaged with Jesus Christ, but in their different ways. When the Lord chides Martha, He does not say, “Martha, you should stop being busy with many things and come and sit here with Mary.”
In preparing this morning’s homily, I was struck by two hints, one from the lectionary and the other from the Benedictine calendar, that open up the richness of this episode. The first obviously is the first reading. Abraham, newly circumcised, bear in mind, and a spry ninety-nine years old to boot, bounds about in haste to show hospitality to his mysterious guests. Oddly, in this capacity, Abraham is considered by monks to be a model for themselves. Saint Benedict wrote that guests are never lacking in a monastery. He does not therefore go on to say that all precaution should be taken so that they might not interrupt the contemplative life. Rather guests should be received as Christ.
Furthermore, in the Roman calendar, parishes normally celebrate the memory of St. Martha on July 29. We might expect, if there be a difference in the Benedictine calendar, that we monks would instead celebrate St. Mary’s day on the same date. Instead, we find Ss. Mary, Martha and Lazarus, hosts of the Lord. The virtue of hospitality is truly that essential to the life of a monk.
That said, we must return to this challenging teaching of Jesus Christ: Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. St. John Cassian, speaking through the Egyptian Abba Moses, writes, “We take the view that the other virtues, although we consider them necessary and useful and good, are to be accounted secondary because they are all practiced for the purpose of obtaining this one thing. For when the Lord said: ‘You are concerned and troubled about many things, but [only one is necessary],’ he placed the highest good not in carrying out some work, however praiseworthy, but in the truly simple and unified contemplation of him.”
What we see in Cassian is the older distinction between the active and contemplative life. In this older understanding, they are stages of life to be practiced by every Christian. The active life, called the ‘practical life’ as far back as the priest Origen in the early third century, is the life of renunciation to which all Christians are called. In our baptisms, we renounced the Devil and all his works, evil and all its pomp. This initial renunciation at baptism did not automatically remove from us the inclination toward the vices, however: we must rather take up spiritual weapons in order to root out from ourselves immorality, licentiousness, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing and the like. As we gradually replace these vices with the opposed virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, we grow more and more in the likeness of Christ, Christ lives in us and no longer we ourselves.
Wait a minute, what happened to Martha and Mary?
Just this: just as Mary could not have had the leisure to sit at the feet of Jesus without Martha’s help, so Martha could not see the true goal of her own work without Mary’s help. We can read this if we want as a tiny image of the Church, in which we monks rivet ourselves as best we can to a mystical gaze toward God, not for ourselves but for the sake of being a target for every Christian, and in which we monks cannot properly survive without the important work that goes on in the world. We can also read Martha and Mary as a sign of what must take place in every Christian heart. We do not do our work to make the world a better place, or to feel good about ourselves. These effects make actually happen and are in themselves not wrong, but if we lose sight of prayer, if we lose sight of God, what are we? We can do all kinds of service, all kinds of mortifications, we can give our bodies over to be burned: if all the while we are grumbling and envious of others, what point is there?
In fairness, I cannot end without saying something of the dangers of the choice made by Mary. Contemplation of God is indeed something that will not be taken away, since good works will not be necessary in heaven, but contemplation of God will be, nevertheless, we are all in the world, and the active life is necessary for us all. Martha and Mary have the distinction of appearing not only in Luke’s gospel, but in John’s as well. In chapter 11, their brother Lazarus dies and Jesus makes his journey to Bethany where He intends to raise Lazarus. Both sisters are bewildered and even hurt by the fact that Jesus did not come in time to heal Lazarus. But only Martha seeks out the Lord, running to him as he arrives at Bethany. Is it possible that Mary is angry at the Lord for disrupting her contemplative ideal and therefore withdrawing from Him? So there is a universal call to holiness, but there is also a universal temptation to turn away from God. Each of us, in our own roles as members of the Church has an edifying role to play for the whole, so long as we order our every action toward our true heavenly goal: purity of heart for the sake of God’s Kingdom. All glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ who has instituted this Kingdom and who invites each of us to partake in it even in this life. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, may each of us work like Martha, pray like Mary and love like the Lord Jesus.
When Cardinal George was here about seven weeks ago, he recounted an anecdote from the time he was a young priest. He was looking for ways to increase discussion in a committee, and when he asked for advice from an older priest, it was suggested that he start talking about Martha and Mary. So I beg your indulgence this morning as I attempt to say something fresh on this somewhat controversial story, and not only that, but I need to do so seven weeks after my cardinal archbishop has preached on the same story seven weeks earlier.
The controversy stems from an interpretation of the story that, while having its roots in the reading of the Church Fathers, was not really standardized until the high and late Middle Ages. Mary was taken allegorically to be a symbol of the ‘contemplative life’, lived by monks and nuns in cloisters, dead to the world, attentive only to the voice of the Lord. Martha, who in this interpretation doesn’t come off very well, figures in the allegory as a type of the ‘active life’ lived by the laity and secular clergy as well as by the newer orders, first the Franciscans and Dominicans and then somewhat later the orders of hospital sisters, servants of the poor, and so on. The active life was seen to be less impressive and perhaps less meritorious than the contemplative which, after all, would seem to be the better portion chosen by Mary.
In more recent times, especially through the fruits of Vatican II, we have a much livelier sense today perhaps of the Church as the Body of Christ in which every member is called to holiness, not merely those graced with the charism of contemplative life. The goal ‘that we may present everyone perfect in Christ’, to use St. Paul’s phrase in the second reading, really means everyone; perfection is attainable even outside the cloister. There are varieties of service but the same Lord. Both Martha and Mary are engaged with Jesus Christ, but in their different ways. When the Lord chides Martha, He does not say, “Martha, you should stop being busy with many things and come and sit here with Mary.”
In preparing this morning’s homily, I was struck by two hints, one from the lectionary and the other from the Benedictine calendar, that open up the richness of this episode. The first obviously is the first reading. Abraham, newly circumcised, bear in mind, and a spry ninety-nine years old to boot, bounds about in haste to show hospitality to his mysterious guests. Oddly, in this capacity, Abraham is considered by monks to be a model for themselves. Saint Benedict wrote that guests are never lacking in a monastery. He does not therefore go on to say that all precaution should be taken so that they might not interrupt the contemplative life. Rather guests should be received as Christ.
Furthermore, in the Roman calendar, parishes normally celebrate the memory of St. Martha on July 29. We might expect, if there be a difference in the Benedictine calendar, that we monks would instead celebrate St. Mary’s day on the same date. Instead, we find Ss. Mary, Martha and Lazarus, hosts of the Lord. The virtue of hospitality is truly that essential to the life of a monk.
That said, we must return to this challenging teaching of Jesus Christ: Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. St. John Cassian, speaking through the Egyptian Abba Moses, writes, “We take the view that the other virtues, although we consider them necessary and useful and good, are to be accounted secondary because they are all practiced for the purpose of obtaining this one thing. For when the Lord said: ‘You are concerned and troubled about many things, but [only one is necessary],’ he placed the highest good not in carrying out some work, however praiseworthy, but in the truly simple and unified contemplation of him.”
What we see in Cassian is the older distinction between the active and contemplative life. In this older understanding, they are stages of life to be practiced by every Christian. The active life, called the ‘practical life’ as far back as the priest Origen in the early third century, is the life of renunciation to which all Christians are called. In our baptisms, we renounced the Devil and all his works, evil and all its pomp. This initial renunciation at baptism did not automatically remove from us the inclination toward the vices, however: we must rather take up spiritual weapons in order to root out from ourselves immorality, licentiousness, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing and the like. As we gradually replace these vices with the opposed virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, we grow more and more in the likeness of Christ, Christ lives in us and no longer we ourselves.
Wait a minute, what happened to Martha and Mary?
Just this: just as Mary could not have had the leisure to sit at the feet of Jesus without Martha’s help, so Martha could not see the true goal of her own work without Mary’s help. We can read this if we want as a tiny image of the Church, in which we monks rivet ourselves as best we can to a mystical gaze toward God, not for ourselves but for the sake of being a target for every Christian, and in which we monks cannot properly survive without the important work that goes on in the world. We can also read Martha and Mary as a sign of what must take place in every Christian heart. We do not do our work to make the world a better place, or to feel good about ourselves. These effects make actually happen and are in themselves not wrong, but if we lose sight of prayer, if we lose sight of God, what are we? We can do all kinds of service, all kinds of mortifications, we can give our bodies over to be burned: if all the while we are grumbling and envious of others, what point is there?
In fairness, I cannot end without saying something of the dangers of the choice made by Mary. Contemplation of God is indeed something that will not be taken away, since good works will not be necessary in heaven, but contemplation of God will be, nevertheless, we are all in the world, and the active life is necessary for us all. Martha and Mary have the distinction of appearing not only in Luke’s gospel, but in John’s as well. In chapter 11, their brother Lazarus dies and Jesus makes his journey to Bethany where He intends to raise Lazarus. Both sisters are bewildered and even hurt by the fact that Jesus did not come in time to heal Lazarus. But only Martha seeks out the Lord, running to him as he arrives at Bethany. Is it possible that Mary is angry at the Lord for disrupting her contemplative ideal and therefore withdrawing from Him? So there is a universal call to holiness, but there is also a universal temptation to turn away from God. Each of us, in our own roles as members of the Church has an edifying role to play for the whole, so long as we order our every action toward our true heavenly goal: purity of heart for the sake of God’s Kingdom. All glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ who has instituted this Kingdom and who invites each of us to partake in it even in this life. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, may each of us work like Martha, pray like Mary and love like the Lord Jesus.
posted by Prior Peter, OSB | 12:17 PM
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