July 21, 2019: 16th Sunday C
July 21, 2019: 16th Sunday C
Which makes you feel stressed, going to work or leaving work to go home? Perhaps with projects and duties at work or at home, we feel frustrated that we’re doing all the work while the other person is not. We may all have felt like Martha in the workplace or at home. We can sympathize with Martha’s frustration about her sister Mary for not helping her to welcome Jesus with food preparation and cleaning. There may have been times when we refused to do work because so-and-so didn’t do his part. The irony is that we lose focus on why we do what we do when we expend energy worrying if another person is or is not doing what he is supposed to do. The important lesson from Martha’s frustration with her sister Mary is that a disciple of Jesus needs to listen first then carry into action. What is the value in listening and to whom we should listen?
When I was hired to work as an engineer straight out of college, my company gave me a paper day planner. It was a fancy leather-bound planner with sections for to-do’s, priorities, project management, and calendar. As a new hire, I wanted to do everything right so I volunteered for everything. I filled that paper planner with new projects, commitments, and meetings. However, I quickly became overwhelmed. I was spending more and more hours at work and also bringing work home. I was losing balance in my life and felt stressed out. It was really helpful to attend a company-sponsored class on time management. I still remember one lesson from that class: put first things first. Putting first things first means knowing our priorities, values, and mission and taking actions toward those each day. However, how do we determine our priorities, values, and mission? We can easily be tempted to adopt worldly priorities, values, and mission. Career, pride, and recognition can easily become our consuming priorities.
What can we do to put order in our day so that we know what takes priority in our life? It’s a good practice for us to begin and end our day in prayer. For priests and religious, before they set off to their busy day at work, they pray about 30 minutes. They listen to what Jesus has to say to them through the daily mass readings, other spiritual readings and perhaps even through music. It is through dedicated time in prayer, the soul and Jesus converse about what is the most important mission in life. Each of us can benefit from setting time aside to have a quiet conversation with Our Lord. If we don’t take that time for God who is giving us the very breath of life every moment of the day, our day can seem like a relentless parade of busywork. I will not promise you that you will literally hear the voice of God, but after the consistent practice of a prayer habit, your heart will desire what God desires for you. After a while, you will begin to see everything through the eyes of Christ’s love for this world.
Throughout the day as we go about our life’s work, we will have joyful encounters but we may also struggle with distractions and encounters that may not be pleasant. At the end of the day, a good practice is to return to prayer to thank God for the day and also to ponder about whether we were able to put Jesus first in all we did throughout the day. Like Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus listening, through prayer we can intentionally give Christ and his will priority in our lives. Mother Teresa was well aware that for her action to bear fruit for God she had to begin with prayer. She said, “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is love; the fruit of love is service, and the fruit of service is peace.”
Many of us may not be able to afford extended time for prayer in the church, but we can still pause a few minutes of our day and turn our inner gaze toward Jesus. Our Lord is our Way, Truth, and Life. He is the “only one” thing needed for a fulfilling and meaningful life. Each time we listen to Jesus in prayer, we put first things first--to know, love, and imitate Christ more each day.
