History is filled with sayings encouraging
us to live a well-balanced life: “All
work and no play makes Jack a dull boy;” “To go beyond is as wrong as to fall
short” (Confucius); “Strive for work-life balance;” and perhaps my favorite,
“It is better to arise from life as from a banquet – neither thirsty nor
drunken” (Aristotle). With all of these
sayings promoting a well-balanced life, one would think that our faith life should
be well-balanced, too. Our readings
confirm that it should.
Today’s readings focus on the importance
of both action and contemplation in the Christian faith. In our first reading, Abraham models a
healthy balance between the two. “By performing
the good work of hospitality, Abraham glimpsed the face of God”[1] and received the divine blessing of a son for
his wife, Sarah. Our Psalm is a to-do list of righteous acts
carried out by those who do justice (action) and live in the presence of the Lord
(contemplation). But in our Gospel,
action and contemplation seem to be in tension with each other in the persons of
Martha and Mary. Martha’s anxiously doing
all of the work, while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet soaking up his every word. The story comes across as Martha versus Mary,
action versus contemplation, with Mary apparently the clear winner. But a closer look at this passage tells a
different story.
Historical interpretations of Luke Chapter 10 haven’t
been kind to Martha. One could say she’s
gotten a bad rap. “The traditional
response suggests that Jesus was indicating the superiority of the
contemplative life over the active, but he did not say that and his life itself
did not give witness to it.”[2] Jesus’ ministry
was very active – he traveled from one corner of the Holy Land to the other, he
taught, he cured the sick, raised the dead, and exorcised demons – but his
active life was grounded firmly in Scripture and prayer at the same time. Therein lies Martha’s problem. While her hospitality is admirable and
praiseworthy, her anxiety and worry have turned her hospitality into a
burden. She’s lost sight of the One to
whom her service is directed and from whom her service derives its meaning –
the living Word of God sitting right there in her living room. “The gentle correction that Jesus offers Martha
is a reminder to her that work is nothing without its connection to God. For this reason, Martha needs Mary as much as
Mary needs Martha.”[3]
Action and contemplation complement
each other. In a healthy faith life,
they’re well-balanced. “In spiritual
teaching, sisters symbolize side-by-side realities that are meant to be
together. Separating them diminishes
both.” [4] Exegetes
are fond of pitting Martha and Mary against each other, but such a reading
misinterprets Jesus’ message. The issue
isn’t whether one is more important than the other, it’s how we integrate both
action and contemplation into our mission as disciples of Christ. Action and contemplation aren’t presented to
us as a choice between one or the other, but as two sisters walking together on
a faith journey. Yes, there can be tension
between the two, making the sister image all-the-more relatable, but tension is
relieved when opposites are in balance. “If
we censure Martha too harshly, she may abandon serving altogether, and if we
commend Mary too profusely, she may sit there forever. There is a time to go
and do; there is a time to listen and reflect.”[5] When
the two are well-balanced, serving God and serving our neighbor isn’t a burden;
it’s a gift accompanied by a tremendous sense of self-worth, joy, and peace.
We all know people, perhaps
ourselves, who are so wrapped up in getting things done that they leave a wake
of burdens, anxiety, and hard feelings behind.
How many of us are too Martha? We
all know people, perhaps ourselves, who spend so much time reading, memorizing,
or expounding Scripture that they fail to practice what they preach. How many of us are too Mary? When we find ourselves being a little too
Martha, we need to sit with Mary. When
we find ourselves being a little too Mary, we need to serve with Martha. We need a well-balanced faith life. How do we get that? There are lots of ways, but for starters, we come
to Mass.
The Mass is the perfect integration
of action and contemplation. It’s the
place where Martha and Mary worship God in complete harmony. It’s the place where God “makes known the
riches of his glory,” as Saint Paul tells us in our second reading. The Mass is active: we sing, process, stand,
sit, kneel, offer, and serve. The Mass
is contemplative: we sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to the Word of God, we welcome
Christ under our roof in the Eucharist, we pray, worship, give thanks, and adore. Just like we take our cars to the shop to
rebalance our tires, we come to Mass to rebalance our Martha and Mary. Nourished by the Word and strengthened by the
Eucharist, we’re balanced and ready to go in peace to glorify the Lord with our
lives in word and deed. We need
the Mass to fill us with divine Wisdom so we can carry out our Christian
mission. As the saying goes, “You can’t
pour from an empty cup.”
The trick is, we have to keep
coming back, and not just for the air conditioning. Life’s responsibilities and distractions can throw
our Martha and Mary out of balance. When
our active and contemplative lives are out of balance, we become anxious and
worried, and we lose sight of the One we serve, just like Martha did in today’s
Gospel. According to a 2016 study, there’s
a link between the decline in religious practice and the increase in anxiety, depression,
and suicide.[6] In my
opinion, the main contributor to the drop in Mass attendance isn’t the abuse
scandal or objections to Church teachings, it’s a failure to recognize our need
to keep our Martha and Mary in balance, and a failure to appreciate that Mass is
a great place to do just that.
“Life’s a balancing act;” “Moderation in all things;” “Eat a
well-balanced diet.” I could go on and
on. Humanity seems to have gotten the
message that a healthy life needs balance.
So why wouldn’t that be the case with our faith life, too? Well, it is.
We’ve become too distracted, too anxious, too fractured. It’s time to sit at the foot of the Master
and ground our actions in God’s Word. It’s
time to receive Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist so we can carry his
peace out into the world. It’s time to
recognize that a healthy faith life is well-balanced.
[1] Michael Simone, “A New Awareness,” America,
vol. 221, no. 1, July 8, 2019, p. 45.
[2] Mary McGlone, “Real Presence,” National
Catholic Reporter, vol. 55, no. 20, July 12-25, 2019, p. 19.
[3] Michael F. Patella, “The Gospel According to
Luke,” New Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament, Daniel Durken,
ed. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009), p. 258.
[4] John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the
Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers: The Relentless Widow, Luke, Year
C (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2006), p. 201.
[5] Fred B. Craddock, Luke: Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for
Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), p.
152.
[6] Erika Andersen, “Is God the Answer to the
Suicide Epidemic?”, Wall Street Journal, vol. CCLXXIV, no. 10, July 12,
2019, p. A15.
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