Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The word of the Lord is beautiful, and I hope it helps us to find our place on this journey of faith that the Lord has given us in our history. I say this because we can be easily deceived. We think we accept Jesus Christ in our life and deep down we don’t. How many here believe ourselves to be good and very good. I am a minister, I use envelopes, I bring donations to the food pantry, I teach catechism, etc. And these are all good things, but the gospel can help us to see that we are like Martha, who has a deep internal murmuration, a big one. She is St. Martha because she converted but at this point in her life she was terrible. Look at how she judges her sister and not only her sister but Jesus Christ as well. She thinks she is better than her sister and that she has the right to tell Jesus Christ what to do.
Did you notice the little question she asked Jesus? It is a little question we all have inside of us. Why? Why is this happening to me? Why can’t I find a job, why doesn’t my mother-in-law change? Why didn’t I have a dad? Why did my mom raise me this way? Why was my father an alcoholic, why, why, why? There is always this question deep inside of us and it is a judgment against God. Look at what she says, “Lord, do you not care?” Is it because you don’t care or you don’t love me? This is deep inside all of us. It is a poison that the devil puts into us constantly: to feel unloved by the Lord. This is the only problem that man has. The only solution to this problem is to know that there is one who loves you. Heaven is open for you, and you can have this eternal life. There is one who loves you, and he is the Lord.
How often do we see people who go to Mass their whole life or be part of a group in the Church and yet they are stuck. Their life doesn’t change, they are not transformed, and they know that they should be transformed. This is because they are deep down like Martha. They are stuck with a very deep and profound judgment against the Lord and only he can solve it for them. But we all already think that Jesus is at my service. Tell my sister to give me a hand, Martha says. What confidence she has with someone she has just met. The gospel says that Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. And Martha said to him come to my house. She didn’t know that Christ was going to enter her house and already had a plan to help her. He enters Martha’s house, not Mary’s, where they had this marvelous encounter.
The point, I hope, is clear that we can be rooted in this idea, in this judgment, to use God to do my will. Tell her to give me a hand, do this, do that or the other thing. Change my husband or my son, get me a new job, give me more money. You spend all your time telling him what to do because you don’t accept the life he gave you. The life God has given you is very precious, and he is making a beautiful story with you where everything is calculated, even the death of your son or your cancer or your divorce, to lead you to salvation. God is an artist who does everything well. He doesn’t leave things to chance or leaves things are they are. He does all things well.
But there is a poison, a lie that the devil who tells you and it is circulating inside of you. What is the antidote to this poison when the snake bites you? This is why the devil is represented as a snake since Genesis. He is a snake. You don’t feel it; you don’t see him coming and often he comes when you least expect him. Then you realize he has bitten you in an instant and puts a poison in you that kills you if you don’t have the antidote. The poison goes into the bloodstream immediately and reaches your heart. There are some snakes when they bite the person dies in a minute or two.
What is the antidote? The blood of Christ. Today you are going to take this antidote. You have the grace to be able to take the blood of Christ. Alcohol enters the bloodstream immediately. You notice this if you drink too much it goes to your head by way of the blood after it circulates through your blood. What a marvel that God wanted his Son to become bread or to take on the form of bread and his blood into wine so that it may enter and destroy the lie of the devil. It is not automatic, of course. You can drink all the blood of Christ in the world, but you still need to hear this word which slowly destroys this deception of the devil. She has to help me is the lie that deceived Martha. This is what we have done all our life.
When we get close to Jesus often, we do it in order to tell him what to do. It is not to do his will, but to tell him what he has to do for me. You come to church to pray that the Lord will do your will. You never said, “I thank you Lord for my husband who came home drunk yesterday”, never, never! You go to church to say change your spouse. We want God to be like a genie in a lamp. This is why you come to church and perform a series of rituals.
We have been like Pharisees, thinking that we please God with good deeds. This is not Christian. He doesn’t want sacrifices; he wants a contrite and humbled heart. He wants to show you mercy; he wants to have mercy on you. Look at the attitude of Mary. She listens. She doesn’t tell the Lord what he has to do. The Lord comes to her quietly. When you are always talking, you will not listen. Mary listens. This is the only difference between Martha and her. This is why Jesus says that she has chosen the best part. It cannot be taken from here.
What is the best part that will not be taken from you, brothers and sisters? To experience this love of God. The one who has this experience no one can take it away from him. The devil has no power to put his dirty hands on you. He has the certainty of God’s love, and it comes from listening. Faith comes from listening. Many people ask, “How can I have this faith, how do I do it?” Faith comes from listening to the preaching. Open your ears. Sit at his feet. Listen to his word in the preaching.
St. Paul says faith comes from listening. He could have said faith comes from studying theology or from giving alms to the poor or selling all your goods which are good things but without love they mean nothing. Listen to the voice of the Lord in the Eucharist, in the Word, in your history. Sit at his feet and listen to what the Lord wants to tell you. Like in the first reading of the three angels that visit Abraham and Sarah, he will send you angels also so that one day you will believe and be true Christians. You will be able to love your enemies, to forgive your dad, to forgive the one who abused you, to forgive the brother who stole the money, the one who killed your son.
Christ promises us as he did to Abraham that one day you will have a son, born in you, whose name is Jesus Christ. Then you will be able to love and to forgive. You will be able to say like Mary, let it be done to me according to your will. Listen to the voice of the angel who tells you that you will conceive a child and name him Jesus. Today I am the angel for you. You have a choice to listen to the Lord or to listen to the devil. A true prophet will show you God’s love. A false prophet does the opposite. Be like Mary and listen to the Lord.