by Fr. Tommy Lane
I wonder if we take Jesus’ words in the Gospel today to Martha seriously:
Martha, Martha, you
are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only
one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be
taken from her. (Luke 10:41-42)
Mary chose the better part. She gave time to Jesus when he visited. Jesus would like to eat a good meal, but later. Jesus would have preferred if Martha spent time with him first. It looks like Martha expected Jesus to have the same attitude as hers when she said to Jesus, “Do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?” (Luke 10:40) It looks like she may have expected Jesus to answer, “Yes, I do care” and then tell Mary to help Martha. Jesus did care but not in the same way as Martha. I wonder if we take Jesus’ words in the Gospel today to Martha seriously. This incident is in the Gospel for our benefit. The message is obvious: Jesus comes first; God comes first. Time for God is to be part of every day.
Between May 2020 and June 2021 Pope Francis gave thirty-eight teachings / catecheses on prayer during his weekly Wednesday audiences. Why? This was his answer:
Someone said to me:
“You talk too much about prayer. It is not necessary”. Yes, it is
necessary because if we do not pray, we will not have the strength
to go forward in life. Prayer is like the oxygen of life. Prayer
draws down upon us the presence of the Holy Spirit who always leads
us forward. For this reason, I speak a lot about prayer.
(Pope
Francis,
Catechesis 14 on prayer, Wednesday, November 11, 2020)
Prayer is like the oxygen of life. Without oxygen we die. Without prayer, the oxygen of our spiritual life, we die spiritually. We are spiritually dead if we do not pray. There is so much happening in people’s lives, with sports fixtures competing with Mass sometimes, and people are so busy that we need a Gospel like today’s from time to time to remind us to give time to God every day and put God first. No wonder that on a number of occasions during the Gospels we hear Jesus giving similar advice to today’s Gospel. In Matthew 6:33 we hear Jesus say, “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” John 15 is Jesus speaking to the apostles during the Last Supper, but his words are also timeless and for all ages. Some of what he said is this: “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4) So, if we do not remain attached to Jesus the vine, we are dead branches, we are spiritually dead. Prayer is the oxygen of life. Without prayer, the oxygen of our spiritual life, we die spiritually.
I always say to pray in a way that is comfortable for us. As well as saying prayers we have learned by heart, we can pray in our own words. Pray with your heart. Share what is in your heart with Jesus and Mary; that is prayer. You can share your heart with Jesus and Mary many times each day. Jesus told a parable once about the need to pray always (Luke 18:1). I think sharing your heart with Jesus and Mary many times each day is part of what praying always means.
Another way to pray is the way that many have prayed for centuries. Read a short passage from the Bible, for example, a paragraph from one of the Gospels on Jesus. Read it a few times to become familiar with it. Then ask yourself: “What is this Gospel saying to me?” Then use it for prayer: thanking Jesus for what you have learned from this, asking Jesus to help you put it into practice in your life, asking Jesus to look after those nearest to you and all who suffer or struggle in any way. Finally ask Jesus to show us how we are to convert as a result of what we have just discovered in this prayer and make a resolution. Paul said in his letter to the Philippians to have the same attitude as that of Jesus (Phil 2:5). Prayer like this helps us to have more of the attitude of Jesus.
Prayer always helps us and uplifts us. Just look at Jesus in Gethsemane. He began his prayer asking the Father to take the cup of suffering away from him and he concluded his prayer by saying that not his will, but the will of the Father should be done (Matt 26:39-42; Mark see John 12:27-28). He was uplifted and strengthened for his Passion in his prayer. That is what prayer does for us also. Prayer is the oxygen of our spiritual lives.
Prayer to Our Lady is also an important part of the oxygen of our spiritual lives. In his 27th catechesis on prayer, Pope Francis said,
If someone is alone
and abandoned, she is Mother, she is there, near, as she was next to
her Son when everyone else abandoned him . . . Prayers said to her
are not in vain. The Woman who said “yes”, who promptly welcomed the
Angel’s invitation, also responds to our supplications, she hears
our voices . . . She listens as Mother, just like, and more than,
every good mother, Mary defends us from danger, she is concerned
about us even when we are concentrated on our own things and lose a
sense of the way, and when we put not only our health in danger, but
also our salvation. Mary is there, praying for us, praying for those
who do not pray. To pray with us. Why? Because she is our Mother.
(Pope Francis,
Catechesis 27 on prayer, Wednesday, March 24, 2021)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2022
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Sixteenth Sunday of Year C
Prayer: Sitting at the Feet of Jesus like Mary 2019
Mary at the feet of Jesus: Consecrated Contemplative Life 2010
Homilies on Listening to the Word of God
Second Reading: Sharing in the sufferings of Christ 2008
stories about prayer