17 July 2022
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The story we hear in the Gospel today about Martha and Mary isn’t meant to belittle the importance of attending to our temporal needs and duties. God knows that we have these needs and it is certainly both right and good that we attend to our responsibilities at work or school or in our homes and communities with energy, devotion, and fervor as we seek to care for one another as well as the gifts that have been entrusted to us.
What this passage really calls us to is a reevaluation of personal intentionality and how we choose to order the priorities of our lives, especially internally. How often we find ourselves swept up in the hustle and bustle of daily life as we rush from place to place and task to task. How many times have we felt that we would like to take more time for prayer in our lives only to find that we consistently arrive at the end of our days exhausted without having managed to find any time for God? These are the aspects of life that the Gospel calls us to examine. Do we really think of God first in all things or only as an afterthought when we encounter unexpected difficulties? Do we begin all our endeavors by offering them to Him? Do we consistently, intentionally try to give the best of our time, energy, and hearts to God? Or does He just get the leftovers when there happen to be some?
For so many of us (myself included), the daily plunge into the fast-paced frenzy of life in this modern age is inevitable. Even so, we have the ability to choose how to meet it and to be more attentive to constantly and intentionally offering all of our works and efforts back to God. As often as we can remember to do so, whether at work, at school, at study, whether preparing a meal or shopping or doing chores, whether at work or play or at labor or at rest, I invite us all to continually offer up whatever we’re engaged in to God and simply say, “For You, Jesus”. How much more blessed, fruitful, and successful will all our endeavors be if they have their origin and direction in God and how much more rich and full will each day be if we strive to spend them more intentionally in His loving companionship.