GOSPEL POWER l OCTOBER 5, 2021 l TUESDAY

27th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Lk 10:38-42 38

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he entered a certain  village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.  39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened  to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many  tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my  sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help  me.” 41But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried  and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary  has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

 Mary’s gesture of sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening  to him is not only an act of hospitality that a host owes  a guest. The gesture implies that Mary has become a disciple  of Jesus and entered into a formative relationship with the Master.  In response to Martha’s complaint about her sister, Jesus stresses  the importance of becoming his disciple by calling Mary’s choice  “the better part.” In a certain sense, this is the whole thrust of Jesus’  mission on earth — to establish God’s Kingdom on earth by making  disciples of all peoples. This is, in fact, his pre-ascension mandate  to the Eleven in Matthew 28:19 — “Make disciples of all nations…”  Becoming a disciple entails the submission of one’s entire life to Jesus,  who then brings all realities under God’s rule, “so that God may be all  in all” (1 Cor 15:28).

 Lord Jesus, our Way, lead us toward the attainment of the purpose of our  existence, which is total submission to God’s rule. Amen.