MY REPLY TO THE POPE FRANCIS’ LETTER TO PRIESTS dated 4th August, 2019

Dear Holy Father, Francis,

It felt so good, consoled and encouraged to have read those beautiful and encouraging words contained in your Letter to priests dated 4/08/2019. I am pushed to reply this letter because I felt you were personally speaking to me. Yes, you wrote to all priests, but I took those words of yours personally that I am all the more encouraged not to give up. How good does it feel that the Holy Father took his time to write to each and every one of us, priests, especially during this time when secularism combats seriously with those ideals that make us whom we are as priests and as a Church. Thank you, Pope Francis for your Letter.

Dear Holy Father, I remember as a boy who had just received the first Holy Communion in St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Abayi Ariaria Aba, Nigeria (at the age of 9) how enthusiastic I was to become a priest so as to be like the pastor from whose hands I received our Lord in the Eucharist. I grew with so much love for the Church and I literally disturbed my parents to send me to the Minor Seminary. Through their instrumentality, I came in contact with a senior Seminarian (now Rev. Fr. Stephen Achilihu) who nurtured my zeal and made me to sit for the entrance examination for a house of formation, the Congregation of Christ the Emmanuel, where in this vocation would be guided and pruned and would be materialized. Reading your Letter reminds me of how I ought to be appreciative to God for bringing me in contact with that senior Seminarian, with the Founder, Fr. John Egbulefu and with all those teachers, Seminary Formators and Rectors who guided me well to answer the call. Reading your Letter now and remembering now those constant words of Fr. Egbulefu “I am living for others” (which he chose as the motto of his priestly ordination), and having witnessed it in my priestly life since August 20, 2016 that I was ordained for the Catholic Diocese of Aba, I grow more aware that the priestly life is one not lived for the priest himself, but for others. Indeed, ‘the priest is not His own’ as Fulton Sheen had said.

Truth be said, I felt so honoured, the sort that I have not felt for many years now, that you addressed yourself as my older brother and father. You thanked me, O Holy Father. Thank you for those series of thanks; thanks for encouraging me. Thank you for thanking me for answering this call. Thank you for thanking me for the joy of service. Thank you for thanking me for celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the Confessions and the Anointing of the Sick. Thanks for reminding me that availability and humility in service are keys to my joy as a priest. Thank you for reminding all of us that we are one family. In fact, you deserve more thanks for the zeal we have seen in you and for your resilience in being a Shepherd we could all look up to, especially at this moment of history. I guess I am not wrong to say that calling yourself my brother and my father depicts ‘familyhood.’ We are family after all. And this means the priesthood brings us together in love and fraternal correction. We ought not be enemies to one another or back-biters, neither should we cause one another pains. We then need to feel sorry for all those members of our priestly family that we have hurt, as we pardon totally all those who have in any way brought us some pains and some moments of frustration. Those hurtful moments are better seen as lessons and as steps towards making us better in Christ.

In your Letter to us, your section on Pains reminds me of those words of Jesus: if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me (cf. Matt. 16:24-26). We have been reminded that the Christian life is one that is not devoid of sorrow, as we look towards that eschatological hope of eternity in heaven. We must be encouraged whenever we face trials or disappointments for the sake of Christ as priests by those words of Paul in Romans 8:17: provided that we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified with Him. We have understood that no cross, no crown. We are now sure that the Lord uses those pains to purify us and to make us more fit for the ministry. We must now be inspired to assist in this process of healing the wounds that might have been caused by ‘the abuse of power, the abuse of conscience and sexual abuse’ while relying on God to renew in us the grace of our ordination, and as we remind ourselves of those gracious words of St. Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles: for when I am weak, I am strong (2 Cor. 12:9-11).   

Dear Pope, your section on Encouragement is indeed smashing. I remember a story often told as a joke about a minister who came up into the pulpit with a jug of water and a glass. He was the kind of preacher who is loud and waves his arms about a lot. In the course of the sermon, he drank up all the water in the jug. After the sermon, someone asked another member of the congregation what he thought about the wonderful preaching. And all she could reply was: it was just miraculous; this is the first I’ve ever seen a windmill so driven by water. This could mean how the effort of the priest to preach Jesus might receive some ridicules, and how people might ridicule their minister who makes sincere efforts to witness to Jesus. It is indeed true that a lot of experiences could discourage us, but then again, you have reminded us that prayer is the great propellant when we feel discouraged or challenged, and also a great repellent against evil and the accuser of our brethren, Satan. Yes indeed, a minister whose heart is encouraged is one that is always on the move, as you have said. Finding in the cross of Christ a great refuge is indeed a great antidote against frustration, despair or any feeling of despondency.

I believe then that the Priest should maintain this centrality of the cross in his preaching, and should never attract to himself the glory due to God. We must not give the impression that the people’s decision is for us, rather than for God, or that the faithful exists for us, rather than we for the faithful. When we do this conscientiously, we can survive and be strengthened by God. The priest must also put his whole trust in God, and not in himself, knowing that only God redeems and ransoms. When we adhere to this, we will be able to gather people together, for strength will be given to our humility and confidence. And so can we redeem and change the world. The priest must turn away from worldly message and desires in metanoia and accept any condition he finds himself, so that he can turn to the world in a spirit of kenosis.

It is also true that we must not shy away from the world in a purported spirit of asceticism, but must live in the everyday world, inspired by the radical obedience of love towards God’s will. When we do all expected of us in total obedience to God, we will totally become free; free in imitating the service of Christ, the service of God by which we can truly serve men. The Priest ought not to, whatever the circumstance might be present himself as an earthly king or governor; knowing well that the kingdom of Jesus the Christ is not of this world (cf. Luke 18:36). Our role is a spiritual diakonia. We ought to perform our ministry in the guise of servants, the service of God as a service to men, the service of men as a service to God. When we do this without pump and majesty, we would have found in our significance our true greatness, which is in the cross of Christ, for only in losing our life can we regain it. 

Again, the priest ought not to behave as if he is a menacing, intimidating person devoted to preaching doom and inculcating fear, but should preach the message of salvation, the joyful good news, and the message of peace. Remembering the very words of Christ that it is the sick that needs the doctor (cf. Mtt. 9:12-13), we exist for the sinners and the godless men, not for the righteous, and hence must forgive, heal and save. If we fail to recognise that we are sinful men who also exist for sinful humanity, then we might grow hard-hearted, self-righteous and without compassion, deserving neither the mercy of God nor the confidence of men. But when we recognize and do this, we will have the grace of holiness and righteousness.

Thank you also, Holy Father for reminding us of the maternal watch of our mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we ought to hold so dearly for the success of our ministry. And now, even though we pray for you at every Mass, I promise to offer up one of my Masses this week for you that the Lord may continue to keep you for us in His love. God bless you, Pope Francis.

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

St. Margaret’s Church, Huntly, Aberdeenshire

Roman Diocese of Aberdeen, Scotland UK.

FOR WHAT DOES HE GAIN FOR ALL THE TOIL AND STRAIN…?

HOMILY FOR THE 18TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Most of us might have heard or read about the story of the rich king with four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most and adorned her with rich robes. He gave her the best. He also loved the third wife very much and was always showing her off to neighbouring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another. He also loved the second wife. She was his confidant and was kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the king faced a problem, she would help him get through it. The king’s first wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions to his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he sparingly took notice of her. One day, the king fell ill and knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered: I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I will be all alone. To the fourth wife, he said: I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that am dying, will you follow me to keep me company? No way, she said as she walked away. Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad king asked the third wife: I loved you with all my heart; now that am dying, will you follow me and keep me company? No, replied her, life is too good. When you die, I am going to remarry. His heart sank and turned cold. He then asked the second wife: I have always turned to you for help and advice, and you have been there for me. Now that am dying, will you follow me? I am sorry, I cannot help you out this time, replied the second wife. At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave. The king was devastated. Then a voice called out: I will go with you. I will follow you no matter where you are going. The king looked up and behold, it was the first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect. With great grievance, the king said: I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance. Would this mean that this king laboured almost for nothing and for people who never held him so dear? Or would it also mean that he ended up misplacing his priorities -the one that should have been taken care of more than the others, he sidelined and neglected? And one might ask, what would now be the gain of this king for all his toil and strain?

This story might be likened to the famous biblical story of the Rich man which is the Gospel of this Sunday (Luke 12:13-21). Jesus taught a man who had complained to him about the acquisition of material inheritance a great lesson. This man, as it were, had his eyes focused on earthly possessions as Jesus was teaching the crowd to be fearless in confessing him. This would imply that the fundamental principle of life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. This man was more concerned about worldly acquisitions  than spiritual enrichment. The counter-question of Jesus ‘who made me a judge over you?’ unravels how he saw Jesus as just a dispute resolution lawyer over issues of worldly wealth, forgetting those exhorting words: seek first the kingdom of God and every other thing will be added unto you (Matt 6:3). He further on told him the  story of the rich fool so as to make it clearer to him what covetousness could do to the soul.

Whatever has one’s affection gets his/her attention. This rich man forgot his soul and his temporality. Yes, he might have worked so hard, made riches, but he never worked hard for his soul. When we work strenuously for our businesses, aspirations and ideas, but fail to work for our spiritual edification, or see in those material acquisitions aids for spiritual nourishment, it would all amount to vanity. The preacher of the  First Reading (Eccl. 1:2, 2:21-23) puts it so well -vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Our struggle in this life would all be in vain when we misplace priorities; that is, when we fail to place God first. A life that lives without nourishing the soul might be tending towards vanity. When one forgets his soul and toils for human wisdom, knowledge and skill; and then has to die leaving those for another, would it not all amount to vanity? For what does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun?

Let us go back to the story of the King with four wives. Some times, we might see ourselves replaying the attitude of this king in our lives. We sometimes neglect the most important values of life. Like this king, we have four wives. Our fourth wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die. Our third wife is our possessions, status and wealth; it will all go to others when we die. Our second wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the farthest they can stay by us is up to the grave. But, our first wife is our soul; often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasures of this world. However, our soul is the only ‘wife’ that would go with us to eternity. It is then, for us, another good opportunity to strive to discover great means to cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, in preparation for eternity. Value your soul and feed it with the word of God. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is quoted to have said, things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. The soul matters most.

My discovery is that the misplacement of priorities has some symptoms such as busyness (growing so busy over a lot of things), undue stress/pressure (pressurized by events or persons, and this might lead to confusion), lack of keeping to agreements and spiritual sloth (the neglect of our spiritual life). And one might think of such reasons why priorities are misplaced: Ignorance and Gullibility (not knowing enough and being easily deceived could make one not decipher the right thing to do first), Insecurity (not trusting that our provident father in his abundance could supply us with our daily meal when we devote our time, talent and treasure to him), Frustration (the feeling of disillusionment with ourselves or discouragement over failures when we see that our efforts to place aright our priorities fail). O God, teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (cf. Psalm 90:12).

Some life challenging questions for our reflection today about misplacement of priorities might include: Why must one run into a burning house to save a valuable property? Why must one care more in the case of an accident about a property other than the person injured? Why must our loved one be allowed to suffer when have the wherewithal to support? Why must we choose sleep, holiday, day-off over the person who seriously needs assistance? Why choose to remain silent in the face of injustice and treachery? Why waste meals when there are millions dying annually for malnutrition and starvation? Etc.

St. Paul provides us with the cure for, or better still, an antidote to vanity in the Second Reading (Col 3:1-5, 9-11): since you have been raised with Christ, set your minds on things that are in heaven (Col 3:1-2). This is another way of saying: let the goal of our striving be eternity; because in it we see gain through the vanities of this world. If only we could honour the Lord with our wealth, with the first fruits of all our crops, then our barns will be filled to overflowing, and our vats will brim over with new wine (cf. Prov. 3:9-10). If only the rich man was able to offer his riches up for the sake of others who suffer, he would not have been termed a fool. Similarly, if only we can offer up the proceeds from our labours and skills for the sake of humanity who suffer, then, we would not have toiled in vain. Vanity is cured when we offer for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. All is not vanity when we make humanity gain from our labours and skills. In the God of Jesus the Christ, there is no vanity; there is great meaningfulness. May God feel our hearts to see the great meaning of life and to live by it. Amen. Happy new month/week. God bless you.

LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

HOMILY FOR THE 17TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

One of the important aspects of every Spirituality lies in its model of prayer. The mode of Prayer distinguishes different schools of Spirituality from one another. The Master/Founder together with the members/followers/disciples of these schools compose prayers modelled after their Spirituality and Mission. Religious Orders and Communities of Apostolic Life design prayers which form an exclusive aspect of their spirituality. And they are known by them; for instance, ‘we adore you’ of the Franciscan Order. This was also obtainable for the Jewish Schools of Spirituality. It was normal for every Rabbi to teach his disciples a simple form of prayer which they might have off by heart and could habitually use it. And today, most families and pious groups have developed forms of prayer unique to them. Indeed, the style of prayer is a mark of identity. John the Baptist did the same and taught his disciples how to pray. This might serve as the background of the request to be taught how to pray by Jesus' disciples.

In the Gospel (Luke 11:1-13), one of the disciples made a request to their master, Jesus: Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. This disciple  was very well aware of what he was asking for. Having their  own model of prayer would make them unique. And Jesus heeded to that request; in  it are five petitions. The prayer in general begins with the title: Our Father. Addressing God as our Father exposes His omnipotent, gracious, provident, forgiving, and protecting nature.

God’s omnipotent nature is evident in Petition 1: hallowed be your name. Here, we pray that the ever-present danger of apostasy be far from us, and that all the evils which defile God’s creation be removed, especially those in our hearts.

God’s gracious nature is evident in Petition 2: Your Kingdom come. Here, we pray that the unity, equality and love known as the foundations of God’s kingdom may be felt in our human society; in such a way that the boundaries that exist between the rich and the poor, men and women, saints and sinners, Jews and Gentiles might be replaced by unity, equality and love.

God’s provident nature is evident in Petition 3: Give us this day our daily bread. Here, we pray for divine sustenance for both our material and spiritual needs. Bread here goes beyond quenching material hunger to encompass sharing with others (sinners included) at meals of reconciliation (the Eucharist) where-in the spiritual hunger is taken care of.

God’s forgiving (merciful) nature is evident in Petition 4: Forgive us our sins, for we too forgive every one indebted to us. Here, we pray for divine pardon for the many offences we have committed against Him. The condition for receiving this pardon is that Christ’s followers must forgive others who wrong them. The best of us is a sinful person coming before the purity of God. Hence, Christians who are adamant in forgiving others do not have a proper view of God, who is merciful to all. 

God’s protective (guarding) nature is evident in Petition 5: do not let us fall into temptation. For Pope Francis, it is not God who pushes us into temptation to then see how we have fallen. We are the ones who fall. Our father does not tempt us; he rather helps us to stand up to our feet. And so here, we pray that God preserves us from anything that endangers our faith, or that tries to draw us away from him, or that challenges our spiritual integrity and fidelity.

Therefore, we must be ready to ask for we are sure to receive, to knock for we are sure that the door would be opened, to seek for we shall find. In the parable of the determined borrower, Jesus teaches us a great lesson about his fatherhood. If  men as hardened and perverted as they might be could borrow to their friends and supply their children’s needs, what more of God who is a loving Father? God wants us to trust him and to believe that He is a Father and capable of caring for His children. As children that we are, we need to be ever ready to speak to our father in prayers and never to despair when asking for our needs. Our Father listens and cares.

The story of the First Reading (Gen. 18:20-32) is the story of Abraham’s petition and supplication for Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded for the people who had rejected God by their evil ways and deeds. In the conversation, Abraham met with the two men (angels in Gen. 19:1) who had gone to investigate Sodom and Gomorrah by God. And the mercy of God would be showcased only if he could find just ten faithful ones. The bone of contention was: will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? Abraham dared to bargain to the point that only 10 righteous people would suffice to avert destruction. Perhaps, a fascinating idea about God here was that He would be ready to save a multitude of wicked people for the sake of a handful of just people. Again and similarly, a handful of just people would not be punished even for the sake of punishing a multitude of the wicked.

But how often does this happen in our world? I remember while growing up as a secondary school student; how the whole class would be punished on account of a few noisy students. It is also true in some homes; how some parents would punish all their kids when a valuable cup gets broken and nobody owns up of doing so. It is also true in matters of international relations; how a people would stereotype another people on account of a very few criminals. It happens also in war situations; how millions of lives are lost on account of a few people considered as traitors. This is the human trait in us, and many times, it happens just easily that we might think these are the right or just way to live. However, God would never resort to that. God would never punish a whole class on account of a few noisy students, or would he punish everyone at home when no one owns up to a mistake, or would he stereotype a people because of one criminal, or would he destroy a race because of one or two apostates. Imagine how terrible it feels to be punished for what you did not do. God would never be part of such a system. Instead he would want to save many because of a few. God’s ways are not our ways.

God was ready to save everyone if there were just ten people. Ten became the natural limit in Abraham’s questioning; below that number, God would only save the one individual -Lot- within the city. It would take Christ to be that singular person that could save all. God would no longer need ten to save; only but one would be enough to save everyone once and for all. Our baptism clears this pathway to be enrolled as one of the many that would be saved by this one singular person -Christ. Through baptism, we are inserted into His death and resurrection; we die to a sinful life and rises to live a new life. From the side of the petitioner, what Abraham could not achieve, Christ actualized; from the side of righteousness, what the righteousness of one -Lot- could not achieve, Christ actualized so as to declare every one of us righteous. Yes, Christ is the one that brought us to life having forgiven us all our sins and having nailed every embarrassments and disappointments we caused God on the cross (The Second Reading Col. 2:12-14). The cross becomes now the source of our liberation. Hence, for the sake of Christ, we are forgiven; no longer for the sake of 50, 45, 40, 30, 20 or even 10. His blood pleads more insistently than Abel’s. He pleads on our behalf.

Therefore, Jesus is the answer. He alone is able to teach us how to pray, and how to save. He alone can lead us to the Father. We must remind ourselves that no prayers goes unanswered. We might not get the answer we desire, but we must be certain that God knows who truly needs an answer. God could also be shaping and reshaping us by our prayers. There is the story of a man who was so sad about his wife that he even wished her dead. And just like us who might not really know what we want -today, we want one thing; tomorrow we want another thing-, he kept on pestering God to find a way of removing her from his life. God allowed him to make three wishes. He then made his first wish that he wished the wife dead so as to get another suitable wife. His wish was granted. But at the funeral, he was startled at the number of people who praised his deceased wife. He never realized she had so many admirable qualities. He realized his mistake immediately and then made his second wish; that God should bring her back to life. It was granted, of course. This left him now with just one wish. As he could not afford another mistake, he found it very hard to make the third wish. Should he ask for money, or for good health, or for immortality? Unable to decide, he asked God for advice. And God laughed at him and said: “just ask to be contented no matter what life brings to you.”

O Lord, teach us to pray for we do not know how to pray neither do we know what to ask for. Make us contented no matter what life brings to our desk. Amen. This is our prayer as I wish you a lovely week ahead. God bless you.

The Grace of Mary Magdalene

Fr Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

We might want to look at the amazing life of this lady apostle, Mary Magdalene in these three levels: She moved from sinfulness to discipleship and then to a missionary.

She has been associated to be the sinful woman who washed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7:36-50.  And this notion about her led many traditions to view her as a symbol of penance and contrition, of mercy and grace; a sinner turned saint.

As a disciple, she traveled with Jesus and helped to support his ministry (cf. Luke 8:2-3)

As a missionary, she witnessed and was sent by the Lord himself to tell the story of the resurrection to the disciples. 

We too might experience these stages in our journey of faith, from sinfulness to discipleship and to mission and ministry. And sometimes, these stages might crisscross. Thus, the celebration of this great feast reminds us that God's grace is always at work within us to turn us as sinners that we are into disciples of Christ and then into ministers in the Church for the Church and for the society. And so as we live our lives as ministers, we must constantly remind ourselves of those very words of Mary Magdalene: I have seen the Lord. One can imagine how excited Mary was as she told her testimony to the apostles. So too, we experience great excitements in our journey of faith. Surely, our target is to live always like people who have seen the Lord, making our faith felt by others. Yes, faith might be compared to a WiFi. It might not be visible but it is powerful and useful to connect us to Christ and to one another. And this is what we need. We desire to be connected always. I pray we all stay connected.

God bless you. 

LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE…?

HOMILY FOR THE 16TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

There is a Chinese proverb that says: a man without a smiling face must not open a shop. The manner we welcome people would determine the way they remain attracted to us. In the First Reading (Gen. 18:1-10a), Abraham and his wife Sarah received and hosted three men who were total strangers; they did this in an outstanding manner. And they got their blessings. The Lord had appeared to Abraham in the form of three men; and recognizing them to be God, he rose, ran towards them and bowed before them. This is a gesture of worship. He beckoned on them to rest and get refreshed before they continued their journey, and pleaded that they wait for a little water to be brought to wash their feet. And realizing that there is no traffic jam along the extra miles, he went an extra mile to prepare a fine meal for them. This show of hospitality did not go unrewarded as Abraham’s family was instantly blessed by God. He was given the promise of a son. The Lord showed that he cared that he had no son; that he was ready to provide for him. Hospitality attracts God’s favours. Those three men did not reject Abraham’s invitation; and this shows how God does not reject the invitation of those who call on him. He is always ready to honour our invitations. When the customer comes first, the customer will last; when God comes first in our lives, God remains.

To recognize God as he passes, we need a compassionate heart that freely desires to show hospitality. We need the spiritual eyes to recognize God in the various events and situations in our lives, but the easiest ways to do this is to see God in the poor and suffering, going extra miles to put smiles (and not ‘wrinkles’) on people’s faces, and seeing the needs of others as more important than ours. A miraculous story is told of a man who was walking down the Street and met a homeless woman with her child hopelessly sitting on the pavement by the road. He had listened to a sermon about “carrying the cross of Christ” and had seen this as an opportunity to share in the cross of Christ. He then invited this woman and her child to come and spend the night in his apartment. On arrival, he showed them around, gave them the keys and walked away. This man had a terminal sickness linked with the lungs that would allow him only but few hours before he would pass on. So he had thought the lives of these people to be more useful than his. He went and spent the night on that pavement beside the road. This worsened his sickness as it landed him at the hospital where he was confirmed dead. Just after some minutes, this man became alive again with his illness totally cured. He narrated his testimony on how he had heard a voice that told him: because you have shown love and hospitality, go back and show more. The more we show hospitality and accept one another, the more we attract God’s favours.

In the Gospel Reading (Luke 10:38-42) is the famous story of Mary and Martha. Just as Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Martha were hosts to Jesus. As Mary showed hospitality by listening to the words of Jesus, Martha tried showing hers by running around in service. They showed hospitality in their different ways. But Martha could not understand that Mary had left her to do all the services while she was with Jesus listening to him. And she asked: Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Now, it has to be pointed out that Jesus was on his journey to Jerusalem just like the three men of the first Reading were on a journey. He came into the house of his friends to rest for a while. He might have been very pre-occupied about this journey and its outcome -his passion and death. At that point, material food did not matter. What mattered was someone that would listen to him. Of course, Martha was innocent of this. She was doing that which for her was necessary, and rightly so. Mary ought to have helped, but she was also being hospitable in her own way -listening. Hence, as Martha was doing a good thing by showing hospitality, Mary was doing another good by listening to Jesus. However, Christ reminded Martha how she was so worried about service, and commended Mary for making a choice of a better part. This means that both ladies might have done something good, but Mary’s goodness as it were, was needed more. And that was the art of listening.  

Why was Martha shown the better part? Martha had complained about her sister’s attitude. The role of Martha is good so long as it does not turn into a complex. Yes, she was doing something good but one might say that her goodness was twisted the moment she wanted Mary to leave Jesus and join her in service. Who would then do the good -listening to Jesus- if Mary had joined her in service? Each of us has got our good deeds and areas where we might be outstanding. Being focused at perfecting ourselves in our own areas without complaining about how we are left alone to do the work or why others must join us should be our interest. The feeling or the desire to incite others to leave their good deeds so as to add greater force and weight to ours might be regarded as the Martha-complex. People with such a complex might be very hard-working, hospitable and caring, but would always end up with the feeling that they have not done any much, or would always get hurt when they do not get helping hands. They might be happy to work and sacrifice, but might end up hurt when they do not get the support they wanted or were not appreciated for their services. They might not want to give others the opportunity to serve and to render help to them and might believe that they must render the services themselves for things to go on well. They might end up becoming slaves to their jobs. Thus, people with the Martha-complex must learn to be capable of receiving services, open and tolerant, becoming focused in their good deeds, and adding cheerfulness to their services. In general, they ought to constantly remind themselves of those gracious words of Mary: let it be done to me according to your words in total openness to the skills and talents of others and in total resignation to the will of God for them. There is the need to decipher what is most needed at each time and to recognize that there can be various routes to the same destination. And as we might have got this complex at one time or another, it is then necessary to think about making the first things first and setting our priorities right.

Two persons had gone to Lourdes on pilgrimage with a singular purpose: to receive healing. The first person immediately forgot the main purpose and started rushing around to see the sights. On her way to pray, she was intrigued by the fast moving crowd, and would pause to take photos. She also saw souvenirs and cards. She might have as well buy them now in case there might not be time later. And being very careful not to leave any stone unturned, she bought them. She might as well post them immediately. Off she went to the post office; after which she heaved a huge sigh of relief. Now, I must go and say some prayers, she said. But by now, she was just about ready to be exhausted. She went to the grotto but was so weak to pray. And later returned to her lounge. The second person passed by the same way and saw the souvenir and card shops. They could wait, she said. She remembered why she had come, and made her way straight to the grotto where she recollected herself and sought to assemble the fragments of her scattered life and laid them before God. She saw how peaceful and refreshing the experience was. She went back to her lounge feeling healed and looking forward for similar experience in the later days. We can now see how two persons would be on the same bed, and one would be taken and the other left (Luke 17:34). It revolves around prioritizing our needs, and listening more to Jesus. For it is through listening to Jesus that we can get more energy and instructions for the services we render to Him and to humanity. The Lord always cares especially when we set our priorities right. Should our priority then as Christians not be God, which is then shown in our hospitality and care for others? Have a lovely week ahead. God bless you.