Tuesday of Week 27 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Galatians 1:13-24

Paul takes up where he left off yesterday. He continues to answer the charge that, by waiving the need for Gentiles to be circumcised after their conversion, he was being ‘soft’ on them.

On the contrary, Paul reminds the Galatians, before his own conversion, he had been absolutely totally committed to Judaism. By this he meant the Jewish faith and way of life that had developed during the late period between the Old and New Testament times. The term is derived from Judah, the southern kingdom that came to an end in the sixth century BC with the exile into Babylonia. As a devout Jew and a Pharisee, Paul had been ruthless in trying to wipe out the “church of God”, the assembly (Greek, ecclesia) of God’s people which he now identifies with the Christian community—the New Testament counterpart of the Old Testament assembly.

In fact, so loyal was he to his Jewish traditions, that Paul stood out among his fellow Jews for the zeal with which he attacked the followers of Jesus. These traditions, also called in the Gospel the “tradition of the elders” (Matt 15:2), refer to traditions orally transmitted from generation to generation and are to be distinguished from the written law that came through Moses. According to the NIV Bible:

“After the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish rabbis began to make meticulous rules and regulations governing the daily life of the people. These were interpretations and applications of the law of Moses, handed down from generation to generation. In Jesus’ day, this ‘tradition of the elders’ was in oral form. It was not until about AD 200 that it was put into writing in the Mishnah.”

Paul, before his conversion, saw the ‘Christians’ (who were then, of course, all Jewish) as a dangerous deviation from the Jewish traditions and had to be stopped at all costs.

But then a great change came over Paul. Like some of the earlier prophets (Isaiah and Jeremiah), Paul had been chosen by God long before his birth for a very special mission. He was given the special grace and blessing of first having Jesus the Son revealed to him so that then he might share with Gentiles (i.e. foreigners or non-Jews) the Good News that Jesus brings.

As if to emphasise the direct nature of the revelation he received, he stresses that at this time, he did not discuss his experience with anyone, nor was he in contact with any of the Apostles still in Jerusalem—which was both the religious centre of Judaism and the birthplace of Christianity. He wants to emphasise that his change of heart was the result of the direct influence of God, and not due to persuasive arguments from human beings.

Instead Paul went off to “Arabia”. This probably indicates the desert kingdom of the Nabataean Arabs on the east side of the Jordan River which stretched from Damascus to Suez. Damascus was (and is) the capital of Syria and was, of course, also the scene of Paul’s (Saul’s) dramatic conversion.

We do not know how long Paul stayed in the desert, but three years later he tells us he was in Jerusalem and stayed with Peter (Cephas in Aramaic) for about two weeks. The word Cephas (or Kephas) comes from the Aramaic word for ‘stone’ or ‘rock’ (see Matt 16:18). In the Greek, Peter is petros and ‘rock’ is petra. The name designates a like quality in the bearer (see John 1:42). However, in the Gospels, Peter is anything but a rock; he is impulsive and unstable. But in Acts, he is a pillar of the early church and clearly its recognised leader. Jesus named him not for what he was, but for what, by God’s grace, he would become.

Except for James, who seems to have been the leading elder in the Jerusalem church at the time, Paul says he did not see anyone else. Clearly, the only effective influence on his new life at this time was Jesus himself.

After this visit, he went back to Syria and then on to Cilicia, a Roman province in southern Turkey. We know he actually went to Tarsus, the main city of Cilicia and Paul’s place of birth.

He was still relatively unknown to the Christians in the Jerusalem area. Paul writes that they only knew:

The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy. And they glorified God because of me.

But it is clear enough that Paul was not yet quite ready to become part of the Christian mission.

Let us reflect today on our calling for we, too, were chosen before our birth to be followers of Jesus. Why us and not others is a mystery we will never be able to answer. As we go through life we may receive other callings and I could ask myself today to what kind of service is Jesus calling me at this time in my life? Let us recall and give thanks to God also for the very many people who, directly or indirectly, have brought and continue to bring a deeper understanding of Christ into our lives.

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Tuesday of Week 27 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 10:38-42

Today we find Jesus in the home of the sisters, Mary and Martha. We also know that they have a brother named Lazarus. We meet the sisters again (showing the same characteristics as in this story) in John’s account of the raising from death of their brother (John 11:1-44). They lived in Bethany, a village about 3-4 km from Jerusalem and it seems that Jesus was a familiar visitor to the house and a friend, for at the time of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus is told:

Lord, he whom you love is ill. (John 11:3)

The story of Martha and Mary is, in a way, a contrast to the previous story about the Good Samaritan. It restores a balance in our following of Christ. The story about being a neighbour could lead us to think that only if we are doing things are we loving God.

Martha was a ‘doer’ to the point of being a fusspot. Martha, we are told:

…was distracted by her many tasks…

Serving others is something that Jesus himself did constantly, and he urged his followers to do the same. But it should not be a burden or distraction. And, after Martha had complained about her sister, Jesus told her:

…you are worried and distracted by many things…

A true servant does not experience anxiety and worry because that signifies a lack of peace.

Because Mary seemed to be doing nothing, Martha saw her as idling and even selfish. Martha must have been somewhat surprised when Jesus said that:

Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

What was that better part? Wasn’t Mary just sitting at the feet of Jesus and doing nothing? No! We are told that she:

…listened to what he was saying.

Listening to his message is something Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd they need to be doing all the time. And we have mentioned before that listening involves understanding, accepting and assimilating that message so that it becomes part of our very selves.

If we do not spend time listening to him, how can we know that our activity is properly directed? It is easy for us Christians to be very busy, but are we busy about the right things?

To answer that question we have to stop to listen, to discern and to pray. And, ultimately, the highest form of activity in our lives is contemplation—being in conscious contact with God and his Word. If I find myself saying that I do not have time to give some time to prayer or contemplation each day, then there is a serious imbalance in my priorities and in my understanding of what it means to love and serve my God.

This story blends nicely with the parable of the Good Samaritan which went before it. Taken together they express what should be the essence of Christian living—action for others that is guided by what we learn in contemplation. This was the pattern of Jesus’ own life—he spent long hours bringing healing to people’s lives (being a neighbour), but also retired to quiet places to be alone in communion with his Father. The same pattern must be ours too. We call it being ‘contemplatives in action’.

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