Scripture Reflections for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“just as one system of the body can sometimes take up the work of another if that system is suffering or one organ can bear the burden of another which is ailing, so one member of the body of Christ can perhaps bear the burden of another”

“The more we over-invest in our work the greater the danger of taking too much of our meaning from our work rather than from our relationships”

“What if this encounter with the Lord is not about these two women but rather about our own conflicting ideas of encountering the Lord? If we are to follow Christ we must allow him into our lives, under our roof, and allow his word to make us whole”

“it sounds like Jesus speaks kind of strongly to Martha...but he's not doing it to condemn her. He's doing it to defend the value of rest. He wants us to know that he values the time we take to rest, especially when it's a silent and a quiet rest in his presence.”

“We are called to consider, 'am I a Martha or a Mary?' when it comes to my relationship with Jesus”

“I believe that friendship with God is open to all...How I express it may be like Martha one day, like Mary another. It may cause me to be honest in blunt, honest conversation like Abraham did one day, while I may doubt God’s work like Sarah the next...In any and all these things, it is the relationship that is important.”

“We must, in short, give ourselves over to the welcome of that which we do not know in advance and that we cannot predict. This invitation is demanding and liberating. We are likely to find ourselves, like Abraham, unknowingly welcoming a messenger of God.”

“no single sacrifice and charity shown to the “Other” especially to the strangers, the homeless, the abandoned, the sick and all who cannot reciprocate our charity will go unrewarded. Our God takes account of every single charity we show to others.”

“as Jesus makes known to Martha, sitting and listening to the visiting stranger is an important way of recognizing the stranger’s dignity, and it is much more than seeing the person as just one more mouth to be fed”

“Mary is concerned about what Jesus can give to her, and sits soaking up his teaching. Martha is concerned with what she can do for Jesus, and is busy about serving the food.”

“You might expect that if we have been made in the image of God we would share the same hospitality genes. We seem capable of receiving his bounty but less good when the tables are turned and we are asked to return his generosity and attentiveness.”

“Do you see Him in the people you encounter, in the situations you’re presented with? Do you seek His will in the choices you make? Do you thank Him in all that you do in life, for the means and abilities that He has blessed you wtih?”

“Mary knows that we do not feed him, but rather, it is he who feeds us. We do not prepare a banquet for him, because it has already been prepared by him and it is for us. He does not sit at our table but rather it is we who sit at his table.”

“It is through people and our interaction with them that God speaks to us and acts in the world. The guests you have in your house may be the means by which God is changing your life through them, and it can also be that he is using you to change their lives.”

“No one is independent, except God. And the most basic dependence of humanity rests on him.”

“Jesus is a guest in the house of Martha, but it is Mary who finds her home at Jesus’ feet and is fed by his words. Abraham and Sarah receive the three men and show their generosity to their guests, but the men are there to bring God’s generosity to them.”

“To share food is to share life. In both encounters God is offered the food which gives one kind of life, and in return gives the word of God, which gives another kind of life.”

“once you know you're dealing with God he deserves all of your attention. Your life is about him. All your thoughts, all your moves, all your actions they're about him. They're focused and centered on him. It's the priority given to God in life. That's what we're meant to see here.”

“just as God revealed his name to Moses by telling him his name, God reveals his identity to us by showing us the one who is light from light, true God from true God, Jesus Christ”

“whatever you're doing, the many things, your duties, responsibilities, cares, preoccupations, as you're doing them can you honestly say, 'this is in accord with what God wants'?”

“Faith means desiring one thing. Faith means that my life is focused unambiguously, without competition, without compromise on God and the things of God.”