THE PRIMACY OF LISTENING

This Sunday, we turn our attention to Martha and Mary. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and his disciples are with him. Luke highlights how Jesus is the missionary who, amid the effort of announcing, is welcomed into a hospitable and friendly home. Martha and Mary in their turn are the icon of the welcome of the word of God, of the Gospel brought by Jesus. The two sisters have two different ways of placing themselves before the Master: Mary is sitting at his feet and listens to him. Martha, on the other hand, is completely intent on her duties of welcoming and serving. They are two ways, as we were saying, different, and which must be harmonized.

Mary makes a gesture that was quite unusual for a woman of her time: she spends time with the guest. She takes on a role that was once reserved for men. Not only that. Sitting at the Master’s feet also expresses the desire to be his disciple. And Jesus – another unusual fact for the time – welcomed, as we know, female discipleship (cf. Luke 8:2). This was clearly accepted gradually by the Christian community and not without some difficulty. This difficulty, if we want, is also recorded in the Fourth Gospel, in the episode of the Samaritan woman: “At that moment his disciples returned and were amazed that he was talking with the woman. But no one said to him, ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking to her?’ (John 4:27)”. If in the Fourth Gospel no one dares to speak, here in Bethany, Martha publicly expresses the disappointment of many. Mary’s position is summarized, in the Greek text, with a single word: paracathestheisa, which means “sitting next to”. Mary is not only at the feet of the Master, but she is next to him. What does it mean? That Mary not only wants to learn from Jesus but wants to learn with love, with that love that becomes closeness, proximity, and intimacy. There is an affective aspect in her. And here we have a great lesson. The Gospel, with its contents, is not a theological system nor a set of rules to learn and apply. The Gospel marks the encounter with Jesus, an encounter that changes life. But there is another peculiarity: Mary persevered in listening. The Greek verb in the imperfect expresses duration. The word of God is not exhausted in the very act in which it is listened to (for example in the proclamation of the Gospel in the liturgy). The word of God needs to be ruminated, recalled to memory, internalized so that all its richness is discovered.

Martha is described in detail. Let’s look at some of her traits. Luke first notes that she was “absorbed (parispaomai)” (Lk 10:40). The Greek verb perispao indicates distraction, tension, excessive worry, a going around in circles. Martha lacks a fundamental requirement for service: inner peace. So she comes forward: “She came forward” (Lk 10:40). Without peace, Martha presents herself to Jesus with a certain verbal hostility: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (Lk 10:40). In an intimidating manner (“she came forward”), Martha speaks a veiled rebuke (“you do not care”) and a certain injunction (“Tell her then…”). We find the same rebuke in Mk 4:38 when the apostles, on the boat, while the wind was raging, cry out: “Master, do you not care that we are perishing?”. And Jesus responds in a strange way: “Have you no faith?” (Mk 4:40). Here is the point: faith. Where does the lack of peace come from? Where does the fear come from? From little faith. And faith is lacking because listening is lacking. Yes, Martha recognizes that Jesus is the Lord (rational adhesion). But it is not enough: we must welcome the Lord (existential adhesion). And how can we welcome him, how can we recognize this lordship if not by listening to him? Jesus takes the opportunity for a precious teaching: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Lk 10:41). Martha worries and worries. The verb merimnao expresses the division of the heart attracted by two objectives. Martha wants, on the one hand, to honour the guest, but on the other, she is tyrannized by the things that she feels weigh on her. What to do? If her service is to be praised, her excessive worry is to be reproached, which testifies that she has sacrificed the unum necessarium to the many services. And we must not forget one fact: the many things not only damage listening but also the service itself. But how to understand this unum necessarium? The expression: “One thing” (Lk 10:42) translates the Greek term enòs, a genitive that can be neuter or masculine, therefore it can refer to both a thing and a person. The only thing that is truly necessary, and of an ontological necessity for a disciple, is much more than listening, it is the person of Jesus himself. He is the beautiful part, the best part that nothing and no one can ever take away.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey