Homily: July 17, 2022, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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 "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.”

What is that one thing needed?

This advice from Jesus is very important, and relevant to every one of us here. Let us reflect on today’s readings to understand better.

In the first reading, Abraham saw three men who were standing near his tent; he immediately offered to serve them and gave them a good dinner, before they continued their journey.

In the Gospel reading, when Jesus entered the village, Martha and Mary welcomed Him. Martha got busy to prepare a good dinner for Jesus. While Mary, sat down at His feet listening to Him speak.

Martha felt burdened and anxious. She needed Mary’s help to provide a sumptuous meal for her guest. Then Jesus said, “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part…”

Indeed, Mary chose something wonderful. To sit with Jesus and listen to Him talk. That is what we would love to do when we have time, right?

But what is wrong with Martha’s choice? She wanted to serve Jesus well with a good meal. Isn’t that what we all do to serve our guests? Wasn’t that what Abraham did also? Is that not good?

A wonderful Mexican mother will understand Martha very well, when you have guests, you just keep making Tortillas non-stop to feed them, right?

I love warm tortillas, so whenever I visit families, I get served a lot. The hosts just keep making tortillas, one after another, to feed me. Do you know how many Tortillas I can eat?

Between 1 to 5 pieces, depending on what the main dish is. But do you know how many tortillas the hosts usually make for me?

More than 10 pieces! Although my tummy looks big, I can’t eat that much. 

I enjoy visiting and eating with your families, but I don’t want to just eat, I want to sit with you, talk and laugh and share life stories. I love to hear about your experiences and faith life. Many times, I would tell the hosts to sit and talk, instead of being busy cooking. I want to spend time to know people, not just to eat.

Many of us are like Martha. We work hard and do our best to provide a good life for our family, loved ones and even friends. We work long hours such that we have no time and no energy to pray and listen to Jesus. We have no time and no energy to relax and listen to our spouse, our children, our parents.

Does Jesus need Martha to serve Him the most delicious meal? Does Jesus want Mary to also be away from Him to be busy with cooking? What does Jesus really want from Martha, Mary and every one of us?

What would please God most? Our hard work, our success, our achievements?

The truth is, God does not want or need anything from us. He simply wants us, our presence, our attention, our hearts. In the same way, our children and family need our love and attention more than the food and gifts we give. And we need their love and attention, more than their success and achievements.

We are the ones in need of God. We need to spend time listening to God. To know God’s will, God’s plan, God’s love so that we know how to live, how to be happy, how to be satisfied. And we will not be anxious, depressed, or lost.

So, coming to Jesus and listening to Him would please God the most.

Jesus doesn’t need us to feed Him. Instead, He wants to feed us. When we come to Mass, we listen to God’s word, we listen to Jesus’ teaching, we receive His body and blood. We will be well-fed, body and soul.

Jesus told Martha “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part”. Doing our work well is good, but listening to Jesus first, is better.

Amen. 


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Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

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For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm There were two brothers who lived debauched lives engaging in terrible deeds. They were notorious yet not at all ashamed. Then one brother died. The surviving brother asked the local pastor to preach at his brother’s funeral. The pastor, aware of the brothers’ background, was reluctant to do it. The brother then promised to donate a big sum of money to the church and begged the pastor to preach with a special request. “Father, in your homily, you just have to say that my brother was a saint.” The pastor thought about it and agreed. The funeral day came. The pastor began his homily, “The man laid in the casket was a rotter; he led a horrible and debauched life. He was truly rotten to the bone. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.” Saintly life or shoddy living – Would the priest at our own funeral have to be paid to tell a lie? It all depends on what kind of fruit we produce from the way we live. Usually, we cannot
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Homily: February 3, 2023, Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

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Homily: July 12, 2022, Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

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Homily: September 26, 2022, Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time.

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We heard in the Gospel today: "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." We all have been to grocery stores. You see shelves and shelves of everything you need, rows and rows of vegetables and meat, packed, weighed and priced in advance, so you can just pick up what you want.  Back in my childhood, there were no grocery stores in the local village. So to buy vegetables, we go to the vegetable market on Sundays. For meat, we go to the butcher. Every Saturday, they would slaughter a buffalo and sell the meat. Once, my mummy sent my brother and I to buy some meat from her regular butcher. We didn’t know how to choose the best meat but we thought, the butcher would help since he knew my parents very well. Instead, he cheated on us, and packed bad quality meat for us to bring home. Mummy was very upset. The butcher knew we went to buy on behalf of our mummy, his regular customer, but he did not respect that. When he
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Homily: March 23, 2022, Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent.

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Homily: June 30, 2023, Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time.

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