Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/071810.shtml

This week’s readings present that hardest of ideas: that the good man is rewarded. It is the hardest, because it is what we are taught from childhood, and it’s what we want to believe the most. It’s what we think Christianity is. But it is also the idea we see the most betrayed, the one that hurts the most when we feel God is not living up to His bargain.

The first reading and the psalm reinforce this idea. Abraham is rewarded for being a good host to God with a son despite his old age, and the psalm intones “He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.” If we are good, and we do everything we are supposed to, follow all the rules, things will turn out well for us.

But this isn’t the message of the Church. In the second reading Paul rejoices in his sufferings, filling up in his own body what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions. He rejoices in pain, not for any personal reward, but because it is “in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me,” as part of bringing the mystery of God fully to those he is teaching. And the mystery is odd, because it is that Christ is in us, the Church, and that we should better ourselves so that we are more perfect in Christ, that we should work towards perfection when perfection is already inside of us.

In the Gospel, Martha wants what every good person wants: consolation that she is doing what is right. But Jesus gives that to Mary who is only sitting with Him. The psalm we read lists action after action that one must do to live in the presence of the Lord: slander not with the tongue, harm not your fellow man, accept no bribe against the innocent. But it is not Martha, who is doing everything right who is in the presence of God, but Mary who is uplifted. Of all God’s teachings, this is sometimes the hardest one to accept. It is not about what we are doing, but why we are doing it.

The gospel reading is rich, and many things can be learned from it. But this is one: we should not miss God where He is. We must do justice, work to build His kingdom, and do everything we see in the example of Abraham, the psalmist, and Martha. But we are not jumping hoops for God to give us treats. Abraham is uplifted because he saw God in the stranger. The psalmist treats others with the dignity given to them by God. Paul admonishes his brothers and sisters because they hold Christ within themselves. Martha is humbled because in all her good works she misses the Messiah when He is right before her eyes.

The goodness of Abraham and the psalmist come from love of God, while Martha looked for a reward. In the psalm, the just may be in the presence of the Lord but even the Lord suffered agony on the cross. Goodness is rewarded by God, yes, but goodness also involves suffering and usually much of it. Our consolation is that Christ is in us, always with us, and before us in the faces of those we serve. We must sit with Mary while we serve with Martha.

We are anxious about many things. But there is need of only one thing. To love God first, and to act from that love in the world, doing what God has commanded and Christ has shown us.