07/20/2025
Luke 10:38-42 Jesus entered a
village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister
named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha,
burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help
me." The Lord said to her in reply, "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."
Did you know that I took three
months off from being a diocesan priest to pray about becoming a Carmelite
monk? Back in 2013 Bishop Taylor gracious granted me a leave of absence to live
with the Carmelites in Dallas, Texas. If you don’t know, Carmelites are known
for spending several hours a day absorbed in quiet contemplation.
My friends all said I would never
make it. And I guess they were right, because look at where I am now!
Nonetheless, my instinct for more prayer was right. What do I mean? Diocesan
priests like me and Fr. Savio can become so work-oriented that we can easily
sacrifice prayer for the sake of productivity.
And this obsession with output
(what have you accomplished?) is understandable because the business of saving
souls is 24-7. But when we neglect serious and sustained prayer, we are
essentially like chickens running around with our heads cut off. Why? Because
Jesus is our Head who gives us purpose, peace, and proper priorities. And
prayer helps us keep our Head (Jesus) on straight.
Today we hear the beautiful but
also somewhat baffling story of Martha and Mary who host Jesus for supper. The
reason it feels baffling to me is because I sympathize and side with Martha.
She is the one doing all the work (like diocesan priests) yet it is Mary (like
the Carmelites) sitting on her hands, whom Jesus pats approvingly on the head.
In what sense, had Mary chosen “the
better part”? Well, Mary stayed close to Jesus who showed her that there are
spiritual feasts that are more satisfying than a supper of the most succulent
steak. Remember when his disciples urged Jesus to eat while he was speaking
with Samaritan woman at the well?
Jesus replied “I have food to eat
of which you do not know” (Jn 4:32). Jesus was serving the Samaritan woman a
sumptuous supper of his words and wisdom. And Mary in the gospel was relishing
that same cuisine of contemplation too. That feast of faith is precisely “the
better part.”
This past Friday I went to visit
Josie Nunez, an IC parishioner who has joined the Olivetan Benedictine Nuns in
Jonesboro. Her house was full of flowers and family and friends, who were
coming to greet her because she had been gone for a year. They were all smiling
and taking selfies as if Taylor Swift had come to Fort Smith.
I had a few minutes to talk to her
personally, and I asked her what her daily routine was like. She said she gets
up at 5 a.m. – which is later than the fully-professed nuns – and spends an
hour in the chapel in quiet prayer. Then breakfast and more community prayer
with the other nuns.
Around 11 a.m. she’s back in the
chapel for more private prayer, the rosary, and lunch. In the evening, she hits
the chapel a third time for prayer before supper and finally night prayers at
7:30, followed by Grand Silence. As I listened to her speak, I felt like Mary
sitting at the feet of Jesus tasting that cuisine of contemplation that Christ
wants to feed us all with.
My friends, we are in the dog-days
of summer, no offense to my dog Apollo! During the summer we finally find some
time to relax and recharge. But how many people try to spend extra time in
prayer? In fact, some people skip Mass as part of their “down time.” We can
even treat prayer like work which we need a break from.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen was a huge
advocate of making a Holy Hour every day in front of the Blessed Sacrament. But
he observed ironically that “the hardest time to make the Holy Hour is when we
are on vacation.” He explained why: “When you have all the time in the world,
you have no time for God.”
Here are a few suggestions to taste
a little of the delicious cuisine of contemplation that Mary enjoyed. Try to
attend an extra Mass during the week. By the way, Josie will be at 7 a.m. Mass
for the next two weeks if you want to say hello to Fort Smith’s own Taylor
Swift. Sign up for a weekly Holy Hour at St. Boniface Adoration Chapel. And
quite literally sit at the feet of Jesus, and eat the food that most people
don’t know.
My family has a conference call
every Sunday at 4 p.m. and whoever is available calls my phone, my parents,
brother, my sister, and their kids (my nieces and nephews) spread all over the
country. I merge the calls and we chat for a bit and then take turns leading
the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
The conference call is not perfect
and I often cannot hear everyone’s voice because they cut in and out. Some
people pray too fast, and others pray too slow. Of course, I pray perfectly.
But for 25 minutes we all sit at Jesus’ feet and are blessed to taste “the
better part.”
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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