Prequel to Roc Homily – Sixteenth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016

In my homily for the 16th Sunday Ordinary Time, I proposed that the Martha & Mary passage works as a critique of a life driven by anxiety, worry, & distraction in whatever line of work.  May I humbly suggest that it is not primarily about hospitality.  The passage concerns the pattern many of us have of avoiding hearing Jesus’ words because we live with so much anxious (or resentful) drama.

Here are three key passages in Luke related to Martha’s situation as told in 10:41 – But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things…

Luke 12:11  When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;

Luke 12:22f   He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Luke 12:25f  And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?  If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?

And here is a fourth I discovered only after preaching. (I wish I would have notice this!)

Luke 8:14  As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

PS: I will post the audio version of my homily when it is available. Blessings! –roc,sj