2025 7 20 Homily Series – Luke 10 38-42
Marks of Discipleship: Presence and Prayer (Martha and Mary)
July 19-20 & July 26-27
Good morning/afternoon. It is great to be together today and if you are new to St. Thomas, we are so glad you are here: Welcome! Today is the start of our summer Homily Series, Marks of Discipleship: Presence & Prayer.
So what does it mean to be a disciple?
The word disciple means pupil or learner. To be a disciple of Jesus means we are his students — we embrace his teachings, which are found in the four Gospels of the Bible. That is the curriculum. And we allow those teachings to transform us.
SLIDE:
Disciple = pupil, student
A disciple also commits to the mission of their teacher; they model their lives after their teacher. So being a disciple of Jesus is not just a belief, such as “I believe in God,” rather it is a belief tied to action.
In other words, with Jesus’ life as a guide, his disciples are called to continually try to align their lives to the Gospel values and to imitate Jesus’ way of loving, praying, serving, forgiving, showing compassion, and working for justice.
That’s a tall order. Are you in? (pause) If so, how do we do this? Well, one key way we can grow on the path of discipleship is to embrace the spiritual practice of presence.
What does it mean to be present? Well, it’s what Fr. Bob often reminds us to do: to be present to the presence of God. He reminds us “We need to be where our feet are,” rather than lost in our mind. Before my spiritual awakening, I would check my watch, worrying about the week ahead or regret over a past mistake.
SILDE:
“We need to be where our feet are.”
— Fr. Bob
Being present is about being aware of this moment. In the Christian context, it is about experiencing God in that awareness. When we are present to God we are connected and open to what he wants to communicate to us. Some call it mindfulness.
Before my spiritual awakening at age 34, I never saw God involved in the world. I believed in God. I just thought he started the big bang and then it was every man and women for themselves. Now I see Gods’ miracles everyday.
In light of today’s Gospel, practicing presence can be as simple as listening rather than trying to solve problems. It’s a contemplative, receptive posture of being in the presence of God. This position is counter-cultural as society reveals the opposite of presence through absence, being unavailable, or distracted.
SLIDE:
Presence
= Listening to God
Aware of God
Consider this question: How present are you to God on a given day?
In the Gospel we get to know a little bit about two friends of Jesus, Martha and Mary. They are sisters who welcome Jesus into their home. Martha is preoccupied with serving Jesus and their other guests, while Mary is focused on listening and learning from Jesus. And Martha complains to Jesus. Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving. Now let’s put Martha’s predicament in perspective. First, Jesus traveled with 12 disciples plus the Bible tells us women accompanied Jesus like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and many others. But in response Jesus says, “Mary has chosen the better part”.
Now before you Marthas out there get upset — and I’m one of you — Jesus did NOT say what Martha was doing was bad. There is time for service. He simply said what Mary was doing was the higher priority. Mary took the time to stop and listen and learn from Jesus. She put first things first by taking time to be present to God. As disciples this must be our first commitment, to listen to God. That is why we are illuminating this mark of discipleship today — because everything flows from how present we are to God.
When we think of cultivating more presence in our life, we can look at what Jesus did to practice his own spirituality. There are multiple times in the Gospels where Jesus went away to pray. Sometimes we have to stop and fill up the tank before we continue the journey. And Listening to God leads to informed action. It cultivates wisdom.
Perhaps Martha was burning out on service that day because she forgot that before all else she needed to spend time with the Lord.
Like I said, I tend to be more like Martha in this story. I’m action-oriented, always doing. In one sense this is a strength but, as is often the case, the flip side of one’s strength is their weakness. My weakness is that I do not take enough time for contemplation and reflection. I don’t take enough time to slow down to step away. I could use a little more of Mary’s practice here. I tend to be a human doing and not a human being. And since God tends to speak most clearly in the quiet, when I am in constant motion I risk missing out on hearing what God is trying to say to me.
SLIDE:
Human Doing vs. Human Being
But when I take time throughout the day to listen to God, to really tune in and be present to the Holy Spirit, everything is easier. Answers to problems become more clear. I have more peace.
For homework this week I want to challenge you to spend 5 minutes with God at the start of every day. And if you’re already doing that, or you find that 5 minutes is easy, do 10 minutes. And if that’s easy, do 10 minutes twice a day. And if that’s easy do 15 minutes twice a day. You get the point. Spend some time listening in the presence of God each day and see how things go.
SLIDE:
Start with 5 minutes a day
Listening to God
As we move through the day and week ahead, let’s focus on cultivating this mark of discipleship together. Let’s practice being more present to our loving God.
Also, if this is your first time here, or you consider yourself new to our community, I’d love to meet you and welcome you to St. Thomas the Apostle. I’ll be in the narthex after Mass
Finally, please come back next week to hear more about how we can grow as disciples. Fr. John Regan, our new priest in residence, will be offering us key insights about prayer. Thank you!
Also next week we’ll have a guest speaker after the 9:30 Mass speak about sacred art as a gateway into presence and prayer.
And please bring a friend, family member, or coworker.
