Genesis 18:1-10; Responsorial Psalm 15; Colossians 1:24-28;
Gospel Acclamation Luke 8:15; Luke 10:38-42

1. -- Lanie LeBlanc OP -
2. -- Dennis Keller OP -
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5. --(Your reflection can be here!)

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Who among us does not face the dilemma that Martha and Mary faced in today’s Gospel reading?  Usually, a person leans one way or the other.   Most of us though, I think, go back and forth between attending to our souls or to obligations that keep body and soul together, so to speak, since a balance of both activities is necessary.

                Honestly, if Jesus, or a prominent person of today, were to visit in our town (or home!!), who would do what and when?   Sometimes when the normal flow of things is in place, well, things fall into place.   Unfortunately, the “new normal” for most people I know is not that normal or conducive to the calmness that we all desire and desperately need.

                My family actually had a “prominent” person visit here in Seattle about 10 years ago. Somehow, I was able to get coverage for a family member who was ill, pack a picnic lunch (Girl Scout cookies and fruit salad) for the rest of us, and find a serene place by a lake to talk about the things that soothe the soul.  I truly wonder what I would do today, today when things are actually more chaotic than ever… but I’d gladly drop everything and tend to my soul...in a heartbeat!
 

                For me, the daily “making it happen” to nourish my soul means prayer, sitting with the Scriptures or a good soul-searching article, book, podcast or poem, and connecting with trusted friends in one way or another.   Technology helps with part of that because I do pray about the headlines of the day, text or talk with far away friends, and compose these reflections.  I do also get lost in those rabbit holes that come along with technology though, as do we all.

                So what do we, modern day people, do when we are immersed in the everyday life that pulls us this way and that?   Age-old answer:   Listen to Jesus … and the modern version: “re-calculate”!! Re-calculate to find “better” things to do, as Jesus reminds us, to balance our lives.

As I was writing this,  a close friend called me, someone I used to talk with daily, in person or by phone, when my kids were young and I was much younger!   That support helped to “make it happen”, (reflecting on the essential food for the soul), later in the evening,  when calmness finally surfaced.    Is there someone you need to call, for them or for yourself, sooner rather than later?
 

 Blessings, 

Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP

Southern Dominican Laity

lanie@leblanc.one

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Sixteenth Sunday of Ordered Time

July 20, 2025

Genesis 18:1-10; Responsorial Psalm 15; Colossians 1:24-28;
Gospel Acclamation Luke 8:15; Luke 10:38-42

This is a Sunday we could name Hospitality Sunday. In the first reading, Abraham greets three men. The lead in to that greeting states that God appeared to Abraham. The terebinth is identified as a great oak tree near Hebron. Hebron is on the West Bank of the Jordan river about nineteen miles south of Jerusalem. The interchange between Abraham and one of the three reveals the rules of hospitality. Abraham invites them to hospitality. His continuing conversations are questions about what Abraham proposed to do. The strangers have an opportunity to reject his plans. They accept what Abraham proposed. When strangers, friends, or relatives visit us, is that how we extend our hospitality? In our age of readily available contacts, when someone announces their intention to visit, is it not customary to determine what they wish for nourishment and hydration? Do we ask about the length of their stay to make necessary arrangements for overnight?

In the course of their meal, they asked Abraham where his wife was. She was in their tent. Then one of them announced within a year they would return. Sarah would then have a son. What is not in the reading is Sarah’s response. She and Abraham were past child bearing. She laughed at the idea. So came the name Issac. Issac means “he will laugh,” referring to Sarah’s laughter as she listened to the conversation.

How does the gospel account of Jesus at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus address the wonder and value of hospitality? Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem where he will be condemned, tortured, and crucified. He accepted hospitality in this home. It was a safe haven, and company of friends, and quiet from the crowds and even from the disciples with their questions about the near future. Martha put him in the role of arbiter in a family dispute. The meal planned by Martha was obviously a great show to honor this wonderful friend. She failed to understand Jesus’ need for quiet and friendly conversations. Those would help prepare him for the awful rejection, condemnation, torture, and excruciating death. Getting to the resurrection included passing through those terrible pains, physical, emotional, and mental. Jesus needed rest, security, and friendly support to prepare himself. He did not want to mediate a family squabble.

Hospitality was a mandatory custom in the Middle East in Jesus’ time. When we heard about the disciples going out, Jesus instructed them to offer peace to whatever home they entered. If the house was not a house of peace, they were to leave it. The disciples were to eat whatever was set before them, not being demanding guests. Repeatedly, Jesus ate with tax collectors, sinners, people the Scribes and Pharisees labeled unclean. When family, friends, or even strangers come to our home, are we listeners? Do we welcome them with certainty and resolve to convince them of our political alliances, sports team allegiances, our faith tradition? Listening to others is how we become friends. If we try repeatedly to impress, overrule, win arguments, attempt to prove how wonderful we are we forfeit the possibility of friendship. The same goes for our worship, for our petitions to the Lord. The Lord listens and sees what is in us and what we need. Listening to the Lord as did Mary in the gospel, is how we arrive at answers.

The second reading teaches us an important lesson, though not about hospitality. There is no evidence that Paul visited Colossae. His letter to them is a response to a split in that faith community. The heresy of Gnosticism was spreading within that faith community. Gnosticism holds all material reality is evil. Our soul is good. But our bodies are constantly challenging the goodness of our souls. The body is the enemy of the soul. Their proof of this dichotomy, this dualism, this binary equation was that God created our souls. Demons created materiality, including our bodies. Paul refutes that. Jesus is both God and Man. That includes man’s materiality. God cannot contain evil in God’s being. Paul insists that every person is warned about evil, is taught wisdom, and is led to full flowering of their person. That completeness is available by following Christ. Christianity lacks aristocracy; there can be no oligarchy of power, wealth, or fame that will lead to completeness.

Paul admits to his own suffering as he works to spread the good news. The work is demanding, like an affliction. He insists he is filling up the afflictions of the Christ. The afflictions refer to Jesus’ ministry, his miracles, and most especially his death and his resurrection. His work is/was to present the Good News of the Father’s love for each of us. We are a person with a body and a spirit. We are each born like a seed planted. We are wide open to opportunity. Our time, our life is for growing that seed-gift of God into a fruitful plant bringing forth fruit in the seasons of our life.

Dennis Keller dennis@preacherexchange.com

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Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections, and insights on the next Sundays readings can influence the preaching you hear. Send them to preacherexchange@att.net. Deadline is Wednesday Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.
-- Fr. John