Gospel Reflection 2021/2022
Jesus always surprises us.
When Jesus came to the village, it was Martha who welcomed Jesus and brought Him to her home. She was a sincere, welcoming, hospitable and motherly person who wanted to make her Guest at home. She was anxious and worried about many things, and it was highly probable that she was busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm.
Because of that, Martha was burdened with so much serving that she was upset that her sister Mary was not lifting a finger to help. Instead of helping Martha, Mary was simply sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him speak.
Saddened, Martha complained to Jesus [Lk 38: 40], “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” From her words, we could feel her anxieties and worries, burdens and frustrations.
Yet, oblivious to her anxieties and worries, burdens and frustrations, Jesus brushed her complaint aside saying [Lk 38: 41], “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.”
What an insensitive remark? How could Jesus be so unappreciative, ungrateful and mean? Was it not Martha who invited Him, made Him welcome, and served Him?
Discerning the good and the greater good.
Jesus was not belittling Martha or condemning her. He did not mean to say that Mary was good and Martha was bad.
The reality was that Mary and Martha were both good: the contemplative Mary was good because she spent time listening to Jesus; the active Martha was also good because she spent time serving Jesus. Both Mary and Martha were, in fact, spending time with Jesus in different ways.
But what the Lord desires is that we discern and aim for the greater good, i.e., what is the better thing to do. Sincerity does not guarantee objectivity. As the faithful disciples of the Lord, we are called to a lifelong discernment of what is good and what is the greater good.
‘There is a time for everything…’ [cf. Ec 3: 1-8]
There is a time for everything: a time to contemplate, and a time to act.
Think before you act, so it goes. It is also equally true for our spiritual life: we must first contemplate, pray and discern before we act – so that our actions come from our contemplative and prayerful union with God, not isolated from God. God must be the sole inspiration and motivation of our actions.
Our Lord Jesus shows us the perfect example: despite His busy schedule, He always finds time and space for silence, solitude and prayer.
✝️ Before beginning His ministry, Jesus spent forty days and forty nights alone in the desert: fasting and praying. [cf. Mk 1:12]
✝️ In the morning, while it was still very dark – despite everyone searching for Him – Jesus went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. [cf. Mk 1:35-37] There were also many occasions when Jesus withdrew to lonely places and prayed despite the crowds looking for Him.
✝️ When the apostles returned to report to Jesus the great works they had done (preaching, teaching, healing and casting out demons), Jesus invited them to “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” [Mk 6: 31]
✝️ At the Garden of Gethsemane, right before His Passion, Crucifixion and Death, Jesus prayed. [Mark 14:32]
It is very evident that Jesus’s entire life and His ministry were always in contemplative and prayerful union with God the Father. Jesus has set the perfect example that we too may follow.
Called to a life of contemplation and action.
Contemplation is more than just vocal prayers. Contemplation is praying with our hearts and minds. It requires silence for it is in silence and stillness that God speaks the loudest. Contemplation involves the active listening with the ears of our hearts, attentiveness to the presence of the Lord, sitting silently in His abiding presence, or simply gazing at Him and letting Him gaze at us.
Contemplation and action are like soul and body. A soul without a body is a ghost; a body without a soul is a zombie. Therefore, contemplation and action are equally important and inseparable in the life of a Christian.
Ignatian Spirituality calls this the “contemplative in action”. Being a “contemplative in action” means that our active life feeds our contemplative life and our contemplative life feeds our active life.
Contemplation anchors us in Christ and unites us with Christ. Without contemplation, our actions can become ‘a misguided tenderness and a feel-good philanthropy’ [Scott Hahn, Signs of Life]. Without contemplation, we can be running around like headless chickens, and our seemingly noble actions can be degraded into another form of rhetorical social activism.
Mother Teresa – one of the most influential women in our modern time – is one great role model of “contemplative in action”. Her actions and her whole life bear the enduring fruits of prayer. No doubt, Mother Teresa and her sisters are constantly busy with the destitute, the poorest of the poor, the sick and the dying. Yet, she strongly believes that, “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.” Therefore, Mother Teresa insists that she and her sisters, despite the busy schedule, must be nourished everyday by attending daily Mass and must spend at least one hour before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Ignatian way: pray, discern, and act.
To simplify these, the Ignatian Spirituality teaches us to pray, discern, and act.
✝️ PRAY: Find time and space to STOP for silence, solitude, stillness and prayer.
✝️ DISCERN: LOOK to God and LISTEN to Him: what is the greater good for the greater glory of God?
✝️ ACT: GO, do the greater good, and bring Jesus to the world.
Let our fervent prayer be:
“Lord Jesus Christ, help us always choose to do the greater good for Your greater glory.”
Let us also pray with and pray for Ukraine that:
“The weapons of war be silenced, the evil of the aggressors be stopped, and those who hold the fate of the world in their hands may spare us from the horror and madness of war.”