Everyone is Called to Discipleship

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); July 17, 2022

Gn 18:1-10a. Ps 15. Col 1:24-28. Lk 10:38:42

Deacon Jim McFadden

This vignette of Martha and Mary has a way of bugging us. Let’s face it: most of us are not contemplatives in  the same way that say, Trappist monks are; we’re very busy, sometimes frenetically so. So, when Jesus takes the side of Mary, it seems like a put-down of our ordinary experience which has myriad responsibilities.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a venerable tradition that interprets this story as a tension between the ‘active’ and the ‘contemplative’ life. Martha is bustling about providing hospitality, preparing the meal. What’s Mary doing?  She’s sitting and listening at Jesus’ feet, which stands for the contemplative life. Now, when Jesus says that Mary has chosen the better part, that seems to be a validation of the contemplative life over the active one.

While this interpretation is open to conjecture, what we see in both the Old and New Testaments is that listening has to come before acting. To be sure, that’s not to denigrate action, but is to put a chronological relationship between the two. What’s problematic is that we tend to act without tending to the Word of God. And, trouble always follow from that. So, action is great, but without contemplation is problematic. Listen first, then act.

While this interpretation has an established pedigree, there is a more contemporary take on this little story that is offered by N.T. Wright, an Anglican biblical scholar. (I came across this version in Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire website, an invaluable resource for Catholic evangelization.). Wright said that one of the principle marks of Jesus’ teaching is the overturning of social conventions. Jesus, for example, eats and drinks with sinners and tax collectors and he touched those who were unclean, such as lepers, both of which violated the purity codes of his time. He is bringing the Good News to those who are on the margins.

Why? He did so in service of the Kingdom of God. God’s way of ordering the world flies in the face of our conventional wisdom, which is why it seems so outrageous. He does so to show how dysfunctional our world is compared to the way God wants to order things.

One of the more radical moves of Jesus’ teachings was the inclusion of women in his ministry. Jesus allowed women into his inner circle, which was unheard of for a rabbi at that time. He spoke publicly at the woman at the well, who was also a Samaritan. He engaged the Syro-Phoenecian woman in an ironic, humorous repartee. He forgave the woman caught in adultery, etc. And let us not forget that the first witnesses of the Resurrection were women. In these ways, the Gospels are signaling the radicality of Jesus. Now, N.T. Wright says that the story of Martha and Mary is another interesting example of this principle. We’re liable to miss it because we’re so far removed from the social conventions of Jesus’ time.

Jesus is now in the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Martha is in a space conventionally reserved for women: she’s in the kitchen bustling about preparing a meal for her guests. She’s doing what’s expected of her. While this typical women’s work was being done, men would sit out in the main room and talk. If a rabbi or other prominent man would be present, the other men would sit at his feet and listen to his words. This posture does not imply some kind of lap-dog subservience, but is the posture of a disciple, who would sit and listen to the teaching of a great rabbi. But that was a man’s role; it was what a man would do.

Now, we can see why Mary’s attitude was so offensive to Martha and probably to everyone else in the room. See, Martha was not simply mad that Mary had given her more work to do, but she was irritated that Mary had the gall to assume the stance of a man—to take her position in the man’s space.

Now, Jesus’ response—“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things, Mary has chosen the better part” (Lk 10:41-42)—is signaling more than a preference for contemplation over action, which is certainly going on. But he is inviting this woman into the fulness of the life of discipleship. Mary has chosen this better part and it will not be taken from her.

Keep in mind that Luke was a companion of Paul, who said that whether one was a Jew or a Greek, free or slave, male or female one is a member of the Kingdom of God, which is the most important consideration of all. That being the case, we are all called to discipleship, by virtue of our Baptism into the Body of Christ, the Church.

Given N.T. Wright’s reading, we can see Mary as the forerunner of all the great women who follow Jesus over the centuries. Can we see her as the proto- type of Teresa of Avila, of Joan of Arc, of Clare of Assisi, of Therese of Lisieux or Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or Edith Stein, or Dorothy Day—of strong women who faced the constraints of their own time, but sat at the feet of Jesus and listened.

Whether you are a man or a woman, whether you are rich or poor, whatever you are inside or outside, don’t let anyone’s expectations, don’t let any cultural hang-ups deprive you this better part. That I think is N.T. Wright’s point that this is one of the principle teachings of this story. Everyone should take his or her place at the feet of Jesus and listen, and take the stance of a disciple. Amen.