Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’ Luke 10:38-42

There is a tendency to think that this gospel lesson is about “doing” versus “being”. At least, I have encountered many people who interpret it as such. I have heard preachers argue that we need Marthas and Marys in the church. I even heard a sermon on “Being a Martha”. It struck me profoundly. I think I mentioned this several times over the past 12 years in my reflections. It seemed to totally disregard what Jesus was saying. No doubt, there were good intentions in the preacher’s conclusion but, like Martha, he missed the point. Martha invited Jesus as a guest into her home. He wasn’t like any other guest. Jesus was special. Unfortunately, she failed to see this because she was too concerned doing things that did not really matter. The uniqueness of Jesus dissipated in her mind the moment He entered her house. She treated Him like any other guest. She concerned herself with things which would not have a permanent impact in her life, unlike Mary. Furthermore, it is unfair to assume that people like Mary don’t do any work. In fact, Mary Magdalene did extraordinary things. We cannot read the gospels without acknowledging her importance. Her presence is noted in all the significant events of the gospels. It can be argued that she was one of the greatest disciples according to Jesus’ standard. She was definitely a servant of all but the most important thing she did first was to sit and listen to our Lord.

In our experience both in the parish and our ministry now in the streets, we have encountered many “Marthas”. Their good intentions are never doubted. They usually plunge in head first into the ministry. Their enthusiasm is many times contagious. However, it doesn’t last long. They get frustrated and angry. Then we don’t see them anymore. They are like the seeds in the parable of the Sower that fall into rocky ground. They spring up fast but wither away just as quickly because they have no moisture.

Martha invited Jesus into her home. Obviously she saw something special in Jesus. However, the moment Jesus stepped into her household, He became a problem for her. It was not a bad problem but a problem. She wanted to get everything ready for her guest. Therefore, she busied herself trying to solve little problems to make her guest happy. There is nothing wrong with this. However, Jesus is not an ordinary guest. He was, well, Jesus!

The gospel text tells she got distracted. This is never a good thing. If I could put this in another way, she missed the point of having Jesus in her home. She invited Jesus the person and then treated His presence in her home as a problem to be solved. Whenever we deal with problems, we are obsessed with finding solutions. She got distracted from the real purpose of having Jesus in her home. Mary sat and listened to Jesus. This is really what Jesus wanted. Many times He has said so in the gospels. He wanted to share with the world the message of hope and love. If we don’t listen to Him, we won’t understand His message. If we don’t understand His message, then we won’t know how to serve Him. We might go about doing things which don’t really matter. Some might argue that someone needs to feed Jesus and Martha was doing something real and practical. However, Jesus was no ordinary guest. Martha failed to recognize Jesus was an unique individual and instead He became a generic guest when He stepped into Her home. Mary listened to Him. She wanted to hear what He has to say first before acting.

In my youth, I read a spiritual book called “Sit, Stand, and Walk”. I have forgotten the name of the author. Of course, I did an internet search and found out his name. However, it is not quite relevant to what I want to share. I don’t remember much of its content. The title alone spoke volumes to me. It is a good summary of the Christian spirituality. It transcends the theological arguments of “works” versus “grace” which is often times not very interesting for the person in the pews. Most people want to know how to live their faith in meaningful ways. This is the idea behind “Sit, Stand and Walk”.

In the Old and New Testament, we have countless of examples of prophets and disciples who began their spiritual vocation by sitting. When we sit, we wait expectedly for God to speak. It is not something easy. In the gospels, listening to Jesus requires a lot of work and reflection. Even the apostles, on many occasions, asked Jesus to clarify His teachings. Most importantly, when we sit and wait, we are acknowledging that God is a personal God. In other words, we believe that He will speak and reveal Himself to us. Many times, we feel like we are too busy to sit and wait and we outsource this part to others who end up doing the same. Unfortunately, these never hesitate to pretend that they are His spokespersons. In the end, we get distracted with the wrong things.

There was a time when I was a little conflicted with the idea of a personal God. I did not question His existence but rather the idea of a personal God portrayed by the churches. Unfortunately, it has been trivialized to such a point that the personal God seems very similar to the misconceived idea of Santa Claus. I looked to the Jewish tradition to gain a better understanding of a personal God especially Hasidic Judaism. After all, we inherited this concept from Judaism. I started reading Jewish mystics like Abraham Herschel and Martin Buber. The first thing which struck me was their uttermost reverence for God’s name. It is not mere religiosity but a profound understanding of having a personal relationship with God. We must not forget that even though the most sacred Being comes to our level to speak to us, we must not reduce God to our level. His Name is still sacred and must be treated with reverence. We must never forget that God wanting to communicate with us is the uttermost gracious act of God. Therefore, it would be disrespectful on our part to act in His Name without listening first to His voice. These Jewish mystics teach us that God is constantly speaking to us through people, things, and circumstances. However, we need to listen. Listening entails waiting. God cannot be rushed. He speaks when He is ready. His words always compel us to act.

Our spirituality begins with sitting and waiting to hear God’s voice. The New Testament helps us to discern God’s voice. The whole ministry of Jesus is about teaching us to discern God’s voice. Jesus taught some hard things. He taught us not to serve two gods. Neither one will be the true one when we try to do this. We must love our enemies. We must go and heal and restore lives. God’s voice will compel us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Anything contrary to this is not from God. God revealed His fulness in the person of Jesus. Therefore, He is our standard through whom we discern difference between what is of God and what is of our own sinful nature.

When we hear and listen to God’s voice, then we will have the courage to stand and walk in this world. Mary did some things which were extremely bold for her time. She anointed Jesus’ feet. We can imagine that, in the first century, this act would have been frowned upon. Mary did it knowing that she would receive criticism. Jesus commended her actions. She was at the foot of the Cross even though it was painful and uncomfortable for her. When all the disciples were thinking about throwing in the towel after Jesus’ death, Mary went to the tomb to anoint His body. Mary was a doer. She walked the talk but before she did anything, she sat and listened. Her actions had lasting effects on our faith. Jesus said she chose the right thing. Therefore let us follow in her footsteps and sit and listen with confidence. God will speak and then we can stand on His words and walk with boldness and confidence like Mary.

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Luke 10:25-29

The gospel text above ends with a question and Jesus answers this with a parable which is very familiar with most of us; the parable of the Good Samaritan.

There was a time when we were doing a weekly bible study with one of our homeless youth. This is a young man who has been homeless since he was 8. He had never heard of parables and wanted to know what they were. In the years of leading bible studies, no one has ever asked me this question. It is because we who are in the church are so familiar with them that we think we know their meaning and significance. Familiarity is sometimes confused with knowledge. They are not synonymous. I found this out when I tried to explain it, it wasn’t that easy.

Parables are not allegories, even though they contain symbolic references like allegories. They are not moral tales like fairy tales, even though they do contain sometimes moral teachings. Parables deal with real life. They contain things which the common people can easily recognize to demonstrate a profound spiritual truth. The parable of the sower is a good example. The people lived in an agricultural society and sowing seeds was part and parcel of everyday life. The parable of the lost sheep is another example of something happening frequently in that community. In the gospel text above, Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is quite interesting one. It tells about a reality which is often ignored about Jesus’ society. It was a dangerous and violent society. However, we will get to it in a moment. Let’s dwell on the parables in general for moment. Jesus’ use of parables
reveals something more important and relevant to us as modern people. It teaches us about the spirituality of Jesus, something for us to emulate as His followers. Jesus participated completely in the everyday lives of the people. He did not learn to use parables from a book. He learned them through his daily life with the common people. He looked for spiritual truth revealed in the simple and everyday things of life. Just like we use the common elements of bread and wine and through faith we see something deeper and spiritual in these common elements. The parables invite us to seek for God in simple and everyday things. The world tends to look for God in spectacular things. In the gospels, often times the Pharisees asked for signs. Jesus refused to succumb to their demands. Instead, He reveals that the wisdom of God present in the mundane things of life. This is why He often says in the gospels,

“The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.”” Matthew 13:13

Jesus uses parables to answer a question. The parable of the Good Samaritan is an answer but not to just to the question of “who is one’s neighbor”. It is an answer to the original question; “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Perhaps people might get worried whether this parable is promoting actions over grace. In other words, the argument that we are saved not by actions but by grace. This argument dwells on the idea that eternal life is something after death. It promotes an idea that God will judge us with a scale where our good works are measured against our faults. However, Eternal Life is living in a loving relationship with God.

Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.
1 John 4:20

The parable of the Good Samaritan is quite sophisticated. Literarily speaking, it is quite brilliant. Jesus sets the stage. A man suffers a fate beyond his control. His clothes were stripped so that there was no way of anyone knowing his religious and ethnic identity. Back then and even in some places today, people’s religious and ethnic identity is recognized by their attire. No one who passed him knew anything of his circumstances. He could have been a robber himself who was lynched by a mob. Nothing is known to the passerby except that he was badly hurt and dying. Everyone who passed this man had good religious arguments for their actions. The priest walked on the other side because he was not allowed to touch an injured person or a corpse. He was not close enough to know if the man was alive or dead. The Old Testament is clear about this.

“Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days.” Number 19:11

The priest had liturgical duties. He could not forfeit them for the sake of helping this man. He believed that he had higher priorities than helping this man. The Levite had good reasons too. He was a teacher of God’s Law. Today, he might be considered a theologian. He had an obligation to teach. He needed to keep himself pure too. They did not act this way because they were merely selfish. They did it because of their convictions. Let’s just allow them this argument because this thinking is still present in today’s society. They are always religious arguments to back up acts of omission. However, Jesus wasn’t trying to attack anybody. This is important to remember. He was answering an important question. This parable is about eternal life.

The Samaritan was considered by the Jewish society as a heretic at best. The religious authorities believed that the Samaritans did not have a perfect understanding of God’s Law and their liturgical practices were corrupted and were an abomination to the priestly tradition. In other words, the Samaritan did not have a proper understanding of all things religious. However, according to this parable, this was irrelevant. The Samaritan was sensitive to God’s Spirit. The parable doesn’t tell us this but the Life of Jesus does. The ministry of Jesus is about healing. It is not about religiosity. It is not about rituals or theology or philosophy. It is about healing. This man needed healing. God wanted to heal him. The Samaritan responded to God’s prompting. Every act of Love is a response to God’s grace calling us to act. God’s grace invites to participate in His loving actions in this world.

This is how the Samaritan responded to God’s call. He committed himself to this man. He became his servant. He did not know anything about this injured man. Maybe in another circumstance this injured man might have despised the Samaritan. It was very possible. However, in his most vulnerable state, the Samaritan was God’s chosen instrument of Love.

There is a word in the English language and Portuguese has its equivalent too which I find annoying and condescending. The word is “gratifying”. People have said to me that it must be very gratifying to help someone. The problem is that it reduces something important and eternal into a mere emotional experience. The Samaritan did not help the injured man because it is gratifying to help someone. He was moved to help because he responded to God’s prompting. He was moved to help because God’s compassion touched his soul. Something marvelous and wonderful happens to us when we respond to God in this manner. Hope becomes real and alive in us. The kind of hope which is only found when we respond to God’s love. Hope which opens our eyes to see the Light of God shining brightly in this world even when people around us think we are enveloped in darkness.

Recently, someone asked me if we ever get distressed in our ministry because the situation always seems hopeless. In a way, she is right. Most of the young people we know and have a good relationship with will never overcome abject poverty. Many of them might die homeless. Their lifespan is short, too. Bad food and harsh living conditions besides the stress coming with homelessness contributes to this tragic reality. On the outside, this is a depressing and hopeless situation. However, Jesus never stands on the outside and observes. He participates. He is involved. He serves. He loves. He invites us to do the same. When we listen to His voice, we join Him. Then we discover His presence, wherever Jesus is present, there is eternal life. Whenever Jesus is present, there is Love. Love gives us hope.

This week I was talking with Bruno. Now, this young man, on the outside, looks like your stereotypical homeless person. He wears mismatched clothes. He eats leftover food from restaurants. He complained that sometimes people walk pass him and comment that he is in such a sad and tragic situation. They shake their heads and walk on the other side. Bruno told me that he does not believe his situation is bad. In fact, he thinks that despite his situation, he is quite happy and hopeful. I actually understood what he meant. Bruno is a very sociable person. He has many friends. We have had many good moments and frustrating ones, too. However, Bruno knows that he is loved. Therefore, he has hope. It might not be hope in the mindset of this world. It is hope that comes from Love and it is eternally present. However, we would never discover this if we did not commit to the voice of God beckoning us to participate in the ministry of Jesus in Bruno’s life.

His voice is always beckoning us to join Him. Let’s be attentive and open to His voice.

Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
Luke 10:5-12

Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me. Luke 10:16

The most devastating thing to a person’s soul is rejection. Our youth can overcome abuse in all its forms. They can overcome the devastating effects of abject poverty. However, rejection causes them to question the very core of their identity. It shapes the way they see the world. After years of relationship building, some of them share their experiences of rejection with us. Many times it is not rejection per say but a result of a tragic situation. One young man doesn’t remember his mother’s face at all but only remembers that she left him at the orphanage when he was eight. He waited until he was fifteen. She never came. Now, he erased the memory of her face. The pain was too great. The truth was that his mother could not afford to raise him. She made the tough decision and chose one of her two children. As a child, he interpreted her decision as a personal rejection. Others have parents had to work to support their children and left them alone locked up in a tiny shack made out of scrap wood. Most of these parents did not deliberately reject their children. However, the child reads all these as such. This is the tragic situation of life. In the gospel text today, Jesus sent the seventy out as healers. This is the goal of all disciples that we become agents of healing in this world. It is important as healers that we don’t interpret the world like a child. As Paul said,

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

The healer needs to have a good grasp of the complex nature of Life. Discernment is of utter importance. Healers need to know the difference between rejection and obstacles which life throws at us. Sometimes people misinterpret obstacles as rejection and formulate negative ideas and concepts which become rooted in our souls. Sometimes healers are too quick to shake the dust off their feet when they really need to stay and overcome obstacles hindering healing. I have done this several times. I have misread obstacles and thought that I should leave. I almost made this mistake with our ministry in 2008. I thought I was done because of some obstacles. In the process, I nearly forfeited a blessing which has enriched my life in ways I never imagined.

This reflection is for those who want to be healers. It doesn’t matter if we want to be healers to a specific community like myself or one lonely person we know or a relative who is an addict. Part of the process of being a healer is overcoming obstacles. There are some obstacles which require lots of wisdom. Being a healer, or in other words, a messenger of the good news, requires maturity. Jesus did not send out all his disciples, only seventy who were ready.

In the gospel episode above, Jesus used some key words; “peace”, “listen” and “reject”. Let us ponder a little on these words.

The ministry of Jesus is a ministry of peace. In our final blessing in the Anglican Liturgy, the priest says these words, “The Peace of God which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.” In a poetic and succinct manner, these words define the gospel meaning of peace. The peace of this world is an attempt to appease all sides involved which tends to fail continuously. The gospel is talking about bringing hope and joy to the hearts of those who are spiritually and emotionally exhausted. The young man whom I wrote about in the beginning grew tired of waiting for his mother’s love. Now, he takes solace in things which are detrimental to his body. He needs the peace of the gospel. The peace of God brings hope and joy. It doesn’t overburden the soul. Religion tends to do this. This is why Jesus tells us our spirituality needs to surpass the spirituality of the Pharisees who were the epitome of all things wrong with religion.

Then Our Lord mentions “listen”. In order for people to listen, we need to learn how to communicate. We need to communicate in the language of the people whom God has called us to share His peace. I am not referring to a foreign language. We need to learn to use the proper symbols and expressions which would open up the people’s hearts to receive the healing message of the gospel. This takes time. We cannot learn this “skill” unless we ourselves are open and willing to participate in their lives. We need to listen to them first in order to learn their language. Only then we will know how to use the words of love which will penetrate the walls built around the hearts of people.

Finally Jesus uses the word, “reject”. Now, rejection is real. Some of our children did not just misinterpret rejection from their families. In some cases, there was real rejection. The blow is more devastating to them because as a child they were always ready to love and receive love. When Jesus sent His disciples out, they were challenged to be like little children. They went out into the world ready and willing to love. We will never become healers without this readiness to love. When I first worked in this ministry in the early nineties, I had one objective. I wanted to convince the homeless teens and children to leave the streets. All my efforts were focused on this. Unfortunately, I never succeeded, not a single one left the streets through our efforts, well, maybe one or two. However, I was stressed out and disappointed with myself. Then I thought it was all over and decided to try a different approach, maybe even a different ministry. In fact, many who worked in this same field told me that it was a fruitless task. Then I met an Anglican priest who advised me to just love and enjoy the young people. Sounds like a simple notion but it changed everything. The young people stopped being a problem to be solved. They became people whom I enjoyed spending time with. Then the healing came and consequently their openness to receive our message of healing.

The seventy disciples had Jesus as their model. He was present with them in flesh and blood. They saw Him act and love the people. They heard His words of healing. They had a living example for them to imitate. In some way, we can argue that we don’t share this privilege. However, nothing can be further away from the Truth. The basic foundation of our faith is that Jesus is always present with us. We professed that Jesus is God and therefore, He is also omnipresent in a real and concrete manner. When our Lord instituted the sacrament of Bread and Wine, He commanded us to do this in remembrance of Him whenever we gather together. The remembrance part is the sacred practice of recognizing that Jesus is present in our midst in a real way. We participate in communion to remind ourselves that we need to use our eyes of faith to recognize His presence in the world. Our Lord is present in the hearts and minds of many. Those who respond to His promptings become living examples of His love to the rest of us. If we follow their examples, we, in turn, also become living proof of His real presence in this world. Personally, I believe that the best argument for the existence of God is the presence of people who bring healing love to those around them.

I have had the good fortune to meet many of these people who manifest the Spirit of Jesus in their lives. One in particular is an Anglican clergy who renounced his ordination after a brief stint as a missionary. He was an excellent priest, very well received and loved in all the congregations where he ministered. His faith is a contagious one. It permeated joy and hope. I met him in my teens when he was just a seminarian. I even attended his ordination. Eventually he asked to be send out as missionary to a predominately Muslim nation. I was initially sad for selfish reasons. I wanted him to be close by. However, I eventually left for Brazil, even further away from where we came from. He went with the intention of offering peace to the people. They received it. However, there was an obstacle but it wasn’t religious animosity. It was a peaceful region in this respect. However, the people thought that his message was exclusive to Christians and nothing more. As he tried to participate in the life of the community, he became more aware of the obstacle between him and them. He realized that they did not reject him but his office prevented him from communicating effectively with them. He returned to his diocese and after much prayer decided it was best to renounce his ordination. He did it with the blessing of the church.

To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:21-22

It wasn’t an easy decision. However, becoming the messenger of hope and joy was more important to him than a title. In doing so, he lived his ordination vows in ways more profound than one can imagine. He returned to the community and, now, he is well received. They even call him, “father”, which is term of endearment in that particular culture in recognition of someone who is a guide for the younger people. His faith continues to be contagious and full of joy and hope.

We should not be too quick to shake the dust off our feet. Sometimes an obstacle can be mistaken as a rejection. Some young people who once rejected us at are drawing close to us. There is a young man, Felipe, who never was friendly with us. Incidentally, there are many homeless with this name and I have never mentioned this one before. He used to be a petty thief and I think he thought that this was an obstacle between us. Recently, he started being more friendly towards us. He told us that he was “calm” now. This is a street slang to say one has left behind a life of crime. He even hugged us and talked with us for a while. Thankfully we did not shake the dust of our feet in relation with him. He just needed time. Now he is ready to receive something from us.