Joke: Mr. and Mrs. Dennis invited their pastor for the dinner hosted in honor of the return of their son after long years of his wandering life. As Mrs. Dennis busied herself preparing food, she asked her little daughter to set the table. When the pastor started the prayer before the meals, Mrs. Dennis noticed that her daughter forgot to place silverware for the pastor. Embarrassed at the oversight, Mrs. Dennis asked her little girl why she had not placed silverware for the pastor. “Because, Mom, I have heard Papa saying that our pastor eats like a horse!”

Only at prayer, either the one who is praying or the one who is listening, will the truth be revealed. Either the prayer of whining or listening, listening prayer is what the Lord Jesus was in favor of. Whether the prayer contains many verbal words or is a silent prayer or rather a listening ear, the Lord Jesus is more interested in the silent prayer with listening. Between Martha and Mary, reported in today’s Gospel, Mary was Jesus’ favorite because she listened, while Martha was busy serving the Lord Jesus. Just as Martha served the Lord and complained at the same time, those of us involved in any ministry in our parish, have we ever served in any ministry and complained or gossiped at the same time? If we're all listening, then who is going to say the prayer when we get together? It is not about that, it is about when we come into our prayer, do we spend more time listening to the Lord, or do we spend time telling the Lord our needs, our concerns, and even our complaints?

Today’s first reading, taken from the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, retells a part of the story of Sarah and Abraham, our mother and father in faith. Living in married life, both Abraham and Sarah faced many challenges and difficulties in life, such as moving from one land to another towards the Promised Land that the Lord promised them. Waiting after waiting for their first child that the Lord promised them, they still didn’t see their firstborn at their old age. Out of anxiety and distress, Sarah offered Abraham to have a child with her maid. This way, Abraham would have children after him rather than waiting for God’s promise. Her maid did give him a child, but the Lord was not happy because it was not God’s plan. With the existence of Ishmael, the child of a relation in human’s plan that was not approved by God, both Sarah and Abraham couldn’t find peace and happiness in their lives. Sarah and Abraham, perhaps, went through arguing with heated discussions, especially after Sarah’s maid gave a child from a relationship with Abraham. Jealousy and envy arose in Sarah, and anger and distress might cause many challenges in their married life. Until today’s first reading, at a visit of the three men, after Abraham served them, they promised him that next year, his wife, Sarah, would conceive and give birth to a son. In faithfulness to the Lord and serving, Abraham received what the Lord promised him. Sarah was laughing at that saying since they were both not young anymore. By the way, this laugh has prefigured the name of their firstborn Isaac since Abraham also laughed at the word of the Lord in a previous chapter of today’s first reading that Sarah will give him a son at her age of ninety. Just as Abraham, Sarah also laughed at the word of the Lord said to Abraham. But when she was asked by the Lord why she was laughing, she denied, or rather, she lied. Struggling to have a child and facing many other difficulties of life, and at the same time believing and trusting in the Lord’s promise, Sarah and Abraham surely had to battle to overcome the difficulties and challenges of life in their marriage. Having a child in God’s plan is truly a gift from God. Therefore, Isaac is truly a gift from God, not Ishmael. In faithful serving the Lord, Abraham and Sarah received what the Lord had promised them.

In today’s Gospel, both Martha and Mary, and perhaps Lazarus as well, are living in the same house. In the Middle East culture of the time, their parents might have already died. Both Martha and Mary are adults and might have their spouses and children all living together in the same house. Martha is in charge of the household and busy with the housework so much to the point that she is exhausted and lashes out at her sister. Abraham served the three men, symbolizing the Trinity, without complaining, and Martha served the Lord Jesus while complaining. The Lord reminds us that faithfully serving one another without complaining and spending time to listen to the Lord is better than serving one another while complaining, and listening to the Lord is better than serving. Jesus calms Martha and reminds her, and perhaps everyone of us, that spiritual priority, spending time to listen to the Lord, is the better part of our lives. Of course, this does not mean that family responsibilities are not important or opposed to faithful devotion. Both listening to the Lord and serving one another are good, but it is better to listen to the Lord. Both contemplative lives and evangelizing lives are good, but it is in either lives, we are reminded to spend time listening to the Lord. For us children at home, listening to our parents and lending a hand to help them are all good, but it is much better if we learn to listen more. For couples, listening to each other is crucial to understand each other and so to love each other more and more each day, to become one each day. The decision is always yours.