So Close Yet So Far

Whenever I come by the house of a friend, I do not expect him or her to be in the kitchen all hour long as I wait in the sofa being quiet while I have all the stories in the world to tell him/her but I couldn't because I have no one to talk to. I hate that. Of course, I am certain everybody wouldn't want that too. We want our friends to be in front of us listening to our stories first before they prepare a meal. I didn't say that preparing a meal for a guest is not important but it is not the most important. Just for a while make sure that you entertain a guest by showing how welcome they are. Sometimes treating me like a family makes me feel welcome and at home. When they let me inside the kitchen and we both prepare the meal together and soon eat teh meal together... oohhh nothing compares to that.

We all want to be welcome. In this aspect of life, communication is very vital. When you are visited by a friend or a kin or anybody, let them speak and listen. Simply listen.




I believe that was the mistake of Martha in the gospel for this Sunday. Martha prepared the meal and forgot to be with Jesus first. Jesus' intention is not to eat but to teach. Martha is so busy to impressed Jesus but Mary is too busy welcoming Jesus. Martha welcomed Jesus into the house as a visitor but Mary welcomed Jesus into her heart as her Master. Is it tantamount to saying that work is less important? No.

Work is very important. Our Creator is a Worker. God is teh first worker. God was busy on teh first six days before He rested on the Seventh day. We glorify God by our works. We have ministries in the Church and we have proffessions so we can have something to offer God. We can turn our jobs into prayer when we do it to glorify God. We can turn our jobs into offerings when we toil for God and offer our salaries to God every Sunday as our tithes. God created us for work. Six days we must labor and on the sevent day we will rest. Notice that the number of days for work is greater than the number of rest day. When it is the day for rest, we rest for the Lord. We dedicate it to listening into his word. That is why we Christians begin our week with the Lord's Day. Sunday is the Lord's Day and the first day of our week. Saint Joseph is even the patron saint for laborers. We are to work.

But when our works lead us far from God and make us distant from our goal which is glorifying God, the it is now detrimental. When we think of work as the center of our duty in accepting a visitor then we are loosing sense of visiatations meaning. We may be close to God but distant in a way. We may be religiously present in the Church and in all Godly activities but spiritually absent. We may be filled with all humane honors for helping and sacrificing but empty when it comes to heavenly fulfillments. Martha was so close yet so far.

When I was taking up New Testament Studies, I have learned that there are two reasons why Saint Luke vivified this story in his gospel account.
1. To present how Jesus treated men and women discipels with equality- during those times, it is very unusal for a woman to sit at the feet of the Master while there are men disciples who are with her too. Martha must have felt that Mary should not be there because it is not a feminine business but an affair of the masculines. Women must have a place in the church of God.

2. To critic the Scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus always points his allegories towards the priests in the temple because they were suppose to exhibit the true marks of God's servants but lost somewhere in their position. Jesus wants them to know that their works of the laws and their sacrifices will not carry them to heaven. Only Jesus and his words can bring you to God's Kingdom. Jesus will always echo that HE DESIRES MERCY NOT SACRIFICE. Our fasting, abstinence, and almsgiving will never be enough to bring us to heaven. Jesus alone can redeem us. The scribes and the pharisees are always praying long prayers, always fasting, and always doing sacrifices on altars and they thought that is enough. Jesus says no. being at the feet of the Master like what Mary exemplified is what he needs. Sad to say, it is only Mary, Mary mother of James, Mary Magdalene, and John the Beloved who were at the feet of Jesus during his crucifixion. Only the people who have enough mercy and compassion can be at the feet of Jesus whenHe really needs it. That is why Jesus said, I desire mercy not sacrifice.

Application

Our long prayers are act of being busy reciting words that makes us tired and exhausted like Martha. Why not contemplate. Contemplationis a very good act of prayer. It is listening to the words of Jesus and having nothing to do. Nothing will make you tired when you are silently sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament or an open Bible contemplating about Jesus and heaven and the glory of God, the beauty of creation. This is what Mary did in the Gospel. This is what we should do. Maybe you are a busy lector, an organizer in the parish, a lay minister, or a youth coordinator and you have alot of activities for God. Think about it, do you really have time for God or you only have time for the parish. Do not istake Activity for Accomplishments. Thye are two different things. Jesus told his disciples, "Come to me all of you who are tired and I will give you rest" Mary has chosen the better part. All we need is to be adjacent to the King. Be busy for the King and not only for the kingdom. We may be defocused by too many works. Pause for a while and be alone with God. Be under his feet. Listen to him.