6 October 2026
Tuesday of the 27th ordinary week
Gal 1:13-24; Lk 10, 38-42.
Homily
In the Gospel, we never see Jesus organising great feasts to which he would invite the crowds or even just his friends. Instead, he appears as a stranger who needs the hospitality of others. Even for the Last Supper, his last meal with his disciples, he is received in the home of a stranger. He was received at table in their homes by publicans. He accepted the invitation of the Pharisees. Wherever he went, he brought a message, he offered a word.
Jesus was particularly fond of the hospitality of his dearest friends: Martha, Mary and Lazarus. I must confess that I have a great deal of sympathy for Martha, and I think that the commentators and preachers of past centuries have not done her justice. It is really too easy -- even if it is popular -- to see in this Gospel story the affirmation of the superiority of one form of Christian life over others.
In reality, it is Martha who is the most striking figure in this Gospel story. Jesus is her guest; she receives him into her home. Mary is there, but she too is a guest of Martha. Jesus is no ordinary guest. Even for his dearest friends, he remains a ‘stranger’; but when he comes somewhere, he brings the Word of God to those who receive him, and it is this Word that counts above all else.
Jesus' answer to Martha expresses this reality: it is his word and listening to that word that counts above all else. Now, the great familiarity with which Martha spoke to Jesus clearly indicates that there was a deep relationship between them that can only exist between two people who listen to each other.
In the service of hospitality, there are various essential elements: the guest must be received, a conversation must take place, a meal must be prepared and various services must be offered. There is no true hospitality without all these elements. It is not enough to sit at someone's feet and listen to them, any more than it is to serve them a meal. Martha and Mary share all these elements of hospitality. And so, when Jesus tells Martha, who is serving him, that Mary has chosen the good part (tèn agathèn merída, too easily translated as ‘the best part’ for unconvincing grammatical reasons), he is not talking about an objective superiority. He is simply saying that Mary chose the most pleasant part of the service of hospitality, and that this will not be taken away from her. As for Martha, who does all the onerous service, as Jesus himself will do at the Last Supper, he invites her to do it without worry or nervousness. Everything the two of them do, Martha and Mary, is the full service of hospitality. The two complement each other. Neither is superior to the other.
An additional lesson from this story is that God not only wants to call us to his table, he also wants to be invited to ours. He wants to be our guest, just as Jesus was the guest of Martha, who welcomed him into her home, where she also welcomed Mary. He presents himself to us in the person of the stranger, the poor, the rejected, the refugees and the homeless.
If we listen to his Word, he and his Father will make their home in us.
Armand Veilleux