Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

The fundamental themes of todays readings are the importance of hospitality in Christian life and the necessity of listening to God before acting. The key to the Christian life is nothing but setting our priorities: Jesus Christ first, then everything else. The only way to learn this lesson is to spend some time every day by "sitting at the feet of Jesus." Todays first reading describes how Abraham and Sarahs hospitality to strangers was rewarded by God. Dear friends, this is the story of Abraham and Sarah and their offering of hospitality to three strangers. Both the ancient Jews and the early Christians believed that the best way to show their dedication to God was to be committed to hospitality. Three visitors appeared surprisingly before Abrahams tent. Abraham was wealthy enough, to play the very generous host, with the best of his generation. He was spiritually enthusiastic, sensing that his visitors were covered angels. He and his wife, Sarah promptly started making preparations, for a sumptuous meal to refresh their guests. Their generous hospitality was even more graciously rewarded. God, speaking through the guests, promised that the aged couple would have a son! The birth announcement was a sign of the fulfilment of Gods promises of progeny, prosperity, and a land for Abraham. Friends, this story of the Old Testament tells us that, if we open our hearts and minds to God, then God makes impossible things possible. Gods presence can overturn things. Now lets come to the Gospel passage. Todays gospel is the story of two sisters, Martha and Mary at Bethany. Martha is busy with the work of the Lord, and Mary is more interested in knowing the Lord of the work. For Martha, service comes first and for Mary the relationship comes first. There are people who see Martha in this story, as the material girl and Mary as the spiritual one. The association of Martha with materialism is easier to make in the English language where the name Martha seems to rhyme with the word matter. But this way of thinking in terms of division between spirit and matter does not belong to the gospel of Luke. Rather, Luke presents Martha and Mary as two sisters who are both interested in the Lord, both of them wanted to please the Lord. But The difference between them is the manner in which they go about trying to please the Lord. Martha takes the way of service or working for the Lord. Whereas, Mary takes the way of relationship or being with the Lord. Dear friends, the evangelist St. Mark tells us that, when Jesus called the apostles to follow him, he called them for a dual purpose: to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message (Mark 3:14). The need, on the one hand, to be with the Lord, to know him, to fellowship with him and be nourished by his word. And on the other hand, to do the Lords work, to serve the Lord in others, to proclaim his message of love in

words and deeds. But the question arise here is, which one comes first? How much of my time should I devote to being with the Lord, to prayer and listening to Gods word, and how much time to doing the work of the Lord? In spite of the urgent need to throw ourselves into the work of the Lord, it is only logical to say that my relationship with the Lord of the work comes before my involvement with the work of the Lord. The point of the story of Jesus with Mary and Martha is not to invite us to choose between being a Martha or a Mary. The true disciple needs to be both Martha and Mary. The aim of the story is to challenge our priorities, so that we come to see that fellowship with the Lord, being with the Lord and hearing his word should always precede the work we do for the Lord. Do we have a program of daily fellowship with the Lord? Many people fulfill this, by assisting daily in the Eucharist where they can also hear the word of God. Others schedule a separate holy hour where they can pray and read the word of God. Whatever method we may take but we should fulfil this need. Todays gospel invites all Christians, first to be a Mary who sits with devotion at the Lords feet, listening his word, and then also to be a Martha who throws herself with energy into the business of serving the Lord. Presenting Martha as a model of action and Mary as a true listener to the word of God, todays gospel reminds us to serve others with Marthas diligence. Dear brothers and sisters, 1) We need to recharge our spiritual batteries: sometimes, we should put aside the work that we do for the Lord in serving others and just spend a couple of minutes being with Him, talking to Him and listening to Him, fully aware of His holy presence in our souls as Jesus did. We may also recharge our spiritual energy by means of our personal and family prayers, our meditative reading of the Bible and our participation in the celebration of the Holy Mass. 2) Today we need listening Marys and serving Marthas in our families: Martha has become a symbol of action-oriented, responsible people who get the job done. Our world and our parish churches need such dynamic and generous men and women, boys and girls. We need them to sing in the choir, to help in the church, to teach in the Sunday school, to visit the sick and to serve in all other ministries of the parish community. 3) Today we need to be good listeners like Mary at home and in the workplace. Active and busy as we are, we have to find time every day to listen to God, to our spouse, kids and neighbours. Listening is very essential for the success of married life. Dear Friends, Human love begins at home, and it begins with listening. May Jesus we meet in this Eucharist help us to follow gospel priorities? Amen

Eucharist means thanksgiving in Greek. Our Sunday Eucharist is an occasion to thank our Father for the blessings we have received all week. It is not enough to say THANKS however. We have to channel the life and love we receive from him to others. Hence, Let us now humbly ask pardon for all our failures and prepare ourselves for this Eucharist

The Lord is always with us and wishes to speak to us, but often we are overconcerned about the many things in our daily activities. Let us ask for the grace to appreciate what really matters in life and to be able to harmonize action and contemplation.

Heavenly father, your son Jesus came into the world, bringing forgiveness and the life, in the spirit as gifts; help us to welcome him as he comes to continue his work of salvation among us, that by having him as our guest on earth, we may one day become his guests in heaven. He lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Amen