Hearing The Word

A weekly newsletter delivering context and insight into the Sunday Gospels.

Discerning Balance

~ Rev. Thomas Whittingham

Pastor, Saint Laurence Catholic Church + Upper Darby, Pa

This well-known passage requires us to focus on the context of this scene for a fuller understanding. Immediately preceding this pericope is the parable of the “Good Samaritan.” One way to interpret that parable is to focus on the obligations to work or service that the priest and the Levite have. They avoid contact with the robbers’ victim precisely because their role as priest or Levite requires them to maintain ritual purity. In other words, they put their work or ministry ahead of the commandment to charity. Read through this lens, the parable exhorts us to loving service of our neighbor in need, emphasizing the command to fraternal charity. Taken to the extreme, this insight could lead one to conclude that the default setting for the Christian should be ‘action’ or ‘doing something.’ The priest and the Levite who protect their roles in sacrifice or Temple service seem to be condemned or at least criticized in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Today’s scene serves as a counterpoint to balance that interpretation. In this moment Martha, who is ‘doing,’ pleads with Jesus for additional help. Given the Ancient Near East emphasis on hospitality (i.e. the hospitality offered by Abraham to the 3 visitors in Genesis) and coupled with the preceding parable of the Good Samaritan, it’s reasonable to expect Jesus to agree with Martha and to again reprimand those who would put anything ahead of that obligation to serve our neighbor. Instead, Jesus takes the “opposite side” in this scenario and exhorts everyone to silence and listening – to put the ‘one thing necessary’ ahead of all else. While we are likely all familiar with this style of interpretation of this scene, I propose something different in this instance. Taken together and read one after the other, we find ourselves confronted by the need for discernment in our lives.

There’s not a hard and fast, black and white rule that covers every scenario for our daily lives as disciples of Christ. Sometimes we must err on the side of charity; other moments call us to protect and defend the sabbath rest that allows us the intimate communion with the Father that we need.

At His Feet, In the Kitchen



~ Conor E. Donelly

Saint Maron's Parish + Philadelphia, Pa.

As I reflect on today’s Gospel, I can’t help but think of my childhood home and two remarkable women who filled it with faith and love: my mother and my aunt. My mother loved to talk and to listen. She had the gift of presence. Like Mary in the Gospel, she could sit with you, really hear you, ask questions that made you think, and offer laughter or encouragement at just the right moment. Her way of loving was quiet but deeply attentive.

My aunt, on the other hand, was all Martha. If you visited, the kettle was already on. Something was coming out of the oven. Tea, toast, and homemade sweets seemed to appear before you’d even sat down. Her hands never stopped moving. Hospitality was her offering – generous, thoughtful, and done without any need for recognition.

As I write this, my aunt turns 80. I’ve been thinking a lot about how both she and my mother shaped my understanding of what it means to live a life of faith. One was always ready to sit and listen; the other was always moving, always making sure people were fed and cared for. They had very different styles, but expressed love in powerful, generous ways. Looking back, I realize how much I learned from simply watching them. How attention and service, presence and hospitality, each reveal something about how God loves us. And maybe the deeper lesson isn’t choosing one way or the other, but learning how to hold both together. To be active, yes, but not so busy that we miss what’s most important.

That’s where the better part is found. And it will not be taken from us.