“He Himself is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the firstborn so that He might come to have first place in everything.” (Colossians 1:17-18) In these words, Paul affirms the supremacy and centrality of Jesus Christ. Christ is the foundation and the rock of our lives. Yet today, it is so easy to become inattentive to Christ’s presence in the busyness of our lives.
Sunday’s Gospel story of two sisters, Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) leads us to contemplate hospitality. By His life and work, our supreme Lord demonstrates true hospitality. He invites us into His kingdom. His entire mission on earth was to draw all persons to Himself. How do we receive Jesus and live the centrality of Jesus Christ in our daily lives?
Mary and Martha were honored to have Jesus’ visit their home. Each sister approached hospitality differently. For Mary hospitality meant being attentively present in Jesus’ presence. She sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to His every word. To sit at Jesus’ feet is to take the posture of a disciple, a learner who imbibes the words, the wisdom of the Teacher. Mary, a female, made the radical, countercultural choice toward true hospitality and discipleship. And Jesus was no longer her guest but her spiritual host who welcomed her. In John’s gospel, we see her again at Jesus’ feet anointing them with a costly ointment, demonstrating her deep devotion.
Martha had noble intentions. She expressed hospitality by serving. She was action-oriented and became anxious and over-burdened; with no time to be still and attentive in Jesus’ presence. She cried out to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?” But Jesus always cares. Jesus knows that when we become troubled our hospitality is devoid of love and prone to resentment. Jesus the guest, lovingly enlightened and redirected Martha, with the authority of a host. He points her to the “one thing” necessary to calm her soul, ease her burdens and give her rest: that which Mary chose. Being spiritually welcoming of Jesus’ presence, we discover that He is not simply a guest, a recipient of our hospitality, but He is the Giver of enduring hospitality. He prepares a banquet of everything we need to understand that we are valued children of God: love, joy peace, patience, kindness, and forgiveness.
Jesus invites us all to draw close to Him, to come with our anxieties and troubles, just as we are, to sit in His presence and receive renewal. We draw close to God in Christ by attentively welcoming His Word, the Sacred Scriptures into our lives, taking time to ruminate on its profound insights. We draw close to God in Christ when we intentionally repose with Him in prayer, praise, and adoration. We welcome Christ when we live mindful of His presence in our comings and goings throughout each day, for “in Him, all things hold together”.
