The fullness of truth is found with the Catholic faith because it is the Church that was given to the world by Christ. Therefore we cannot rush about the world doing all our work in separation of the Church. To rush about with concern for our own affairs, without the Church and Christ, would be to separate ourselves from the very thing that was given in order for us to reach the reward of the Heavenly Kingdom. We see within our world a countless amount of souls who wonder about endlessly with their concerns for the world. Without proper order inside of their lives they are constantly tormented in their pursuit to find happiness. Happiness can be found when they allow themselves to be connected to the sacramental life of the Church because this sacramental union always leads us into an intimate relationship with Christ. We are all servants of the truth and therefore should live our lives as such. In today's Gospel we learn this lesson through our experience with Martha and Mary.
Martha understood the importance of the active life. In the gospel she is presented as a woman who had great concern that everything would have its given order. She desired that everything would be perfect for this guest of honor to the point that she allowed herself to give into fear and doubt. Despite having Christ in her midst she missed the point. Her plea of fear to our Lord was answered by a response of great love. In the repetition of Christ's response: "Martha, Martha" He is reaching out to her with a profound sense of love that invites her to enter into communion with Him. The world indeed is quickly passing for each of us. We can all make our lists of our fears and our needs, but we must be reminded of the importance that exists for us to bring these needs to our Lord. We cannot allow ourselves to wonder about endlessly with all of our concerns because we have an invitation of love that has been extended into our lives. Our name is constantly being repeated by God giving us an invitation to not be content w. mediocrity.
Mary shows her desire to not be content because we see her sitting at the feet of Christ in search for wisdom. At the feet of Christ she leaves all of her needs and worries behind, and enters into the contemplative life. Through her posture she does not place herself above Christ or even at the same level, but instead at His feet she places herself humbly. It is only lowered in this manner that wisdom is able to flow down upon her. If she stood towering before Christ she would place herself above this great wisdom and if they were seated as equals she would of placed herself on the same level as God. It was at His feet that she listened and allowed His wisdom to penetrate into her soul. As we rush about this world may each of us come to the great understanding that Mary had concerning Christ. We cannot rush about as if we tower over Christ because we are truly dependent upon this relationship. Christ did become man, but we still are not equals, and therefore must always bring ourselves humbly before Christ instead of coming to Him with a nonchalant attitude.
In Genesis Abraham did not nonchalantly encounter the divine through his encounter with the three who were standing nearby. These three individuals were not of earthly origin, but were that of the great hosts of the angels in Heaven. In his encounter with them he humbly bowed to the ground to greet them exclaiming: "please do not go past your servant." In similar fashion we should not allow The Lord to go past each of us because of our inability to constantly dwell with Christ. As the Church instituted by Christ we were given the great sacrament of the Holy Eucharist which is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. None of us here are worthy of this great invitation to come into an intimate union with Christ, and yet out of love we are called. May we not rush by our Lord due to a lack of preparation, but instead prepare ourselves always to enter into this divine encounter with God.
In entering into this divine encounter may we model the example given to us by Mary. She placed herself at the feet of Christ allowing herself to be receptive to His wisdom. We to should humble ourselves in such a manner whenever we have the joy of encountering Christ. In the Holy Eucharist our Lord has come to dwell with us, and we therefore should find time to sit at the feet of Christ who is present within the Holy Eucharist. It is easy to get caught up in the many worries of the world and to allow the reality that Christ dwells with us to pass by with our many concerns. Instead may we listen to Christ calling our names constantly to return to Him and His love.
In a matter of moments we will be invited to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. May we not use this moment to rush by as if nothing has taken place, but instead enter into this intimate union modeling Abraham ,who within his humility, realized that something profound was taking place. Through our encounter with our Lord may be changed each day and continue to humbly place ourselves at the feet of the Blessed Sacrament in prayer. May we do the same within our homes by allowing ourselves to take time away from our busy lives to reorder ourselves in prayer to Christ. May we continue to use this time given to us by God to continue to enter into the fullness of faith found within the Church where we will be challenged each day to "live in the presence of the Lord."
No comments:
Post a Comment