2025 Sun July 20
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5 minute Podcast on Mary and Martha
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Vermeer’s Christ in the House of Mary and Martha>
Remembering
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St. James, July 25
5 minute podcast about Mary and Martha from the Gospel
This podcast was generated from 5 sources on this website about the “Mary and Martha” Gospel passage.
Commentary, July 20, 2025, Pentecost 6
I. Theme – Surprises related to hospitality and the hidden presence of God.
“Christ in the Home of Mary and Martha” – Vermeer (1655)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
First Reading – Genesis 18:1-10a
Psalm – Psalm 15
Epistle – Colossians 1:15-28
Gospel – Luke 10:38-42
Today’s readings remind us of the surprises related to hospitality and the hidden presence of God. In Genesis , Abraham receives three heavenly visitors who speak of the imminent birth of Sarah’s son. Paul describes the mystery of reconciliation with God and its implications for the Church. Jesus visits the home of Mary and Martha and reminds us of the importance of paying attention to God’s presence and words.
An extraordinary message runs through today’s scriptures. The theme is best expressed in the question put to Abraham: “Is anything too wonderful for the lord?”
Sarah laughed at the promise that she would bear a child in her old age; thus the name of this son of promise was given before his conception. It means “He will laugh”! The divine communication surrounding the birth of Isaac gives us the delightful feeling that God loves to surprise people. Isaac’s very name seems to convey that God’s joy in fulfilling the promise to Abraham would ring through the universe forever. In this way the messianic line was established by God’s miraculous power.
The scripture readings contain another miracle. The question in verse 1 of the psalm is not found in today’s reading, but it prompts the response contained there: “Who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?” The psalmist answers by saying that only those who lead a blameless life are entitled to abide with God. If this were the only message we had, we might despair, for not one of us would qualify. But if we leap from the psalm to Colossians, the “hope of glory” is electrifying news. Miracle of miracles—Christ dwells mysteriously within us. Through him we stand holy and blameless before God. We can now abide upon God’s holy hill.
Christ for us and Christ in us is a mystery we can never fully understand. Better we stand in humble awe and gratitude than to try to analyze God’s doings. It is enough to know that God’s steadfast love and mercy shine in God’s word and deeds.
The gospel passage continues the line of thought that there are moments when the most important thing we can do is immerse ourselves in the wonder and glory of God’s self-revelation and to enjoy abiding with God. “There is need of only one thing” for God to work miracles in our lives.
It would be wrong to over-generalize specific occasions in scripture. It is possible that the next time Jesus visited that household, Mary served while Martha sat at his feet and Jesus chopped the vegetables. The point is that we must be attuned to the lord’s visit in our own household. We need to strike a balance between serving and simply enjoying the lord’s presence in quiet attentiveness to God alone.
Today’s readings abound in possibilities, including the possibility that we will suffer serious consequences if we deviate from God’s vision. Openness to God’s vision opens us to lively and transformative energies and contributes to the healing the world. Closing off to God’s vision dilutes and weakens the divine energy available to us. We may consider ourselves spiritual, religious, or both but be heading away from God’s vision for our lives and our world.
Gospel, July 20, 2025 – Mary and Martha
“Christ in the House of Mary and Martha” – Vermeer (1655)
The Gospel reading is here.
Let’s set the scene. We are in the long travel narrative in Luke (9:51 — 19:28). Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (9:51) and instructs those who would follow that the journey must be their first priority (9:57-58). Jesus sends the seventy ahead with no provisions for the journey and insists they depend on the hospitality of those in towns who welcome them (10:1-11).
Immediately preceding the stop at Martha’s home, Jesus tells a story about a man on a journey who is beaten and left to die. He is saved by an unexpected merciful neighbor (10:30-37). The story of “the good Samaritan” confirms that the journey to Jerusalem is dangerous, and that disciples might welcome the compassion of someone who, in other circumstances, would be considered undesirable.
This week we are in a seemingly peaceful setting – Jesus is invited into the home of Mary and Martha who live with their brother Lazarus in Bethany not far from Jerusalem. This is only reference to Mary and Martha in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). The two sisters and their brother, Lazarus, figure prominently in the fourth gospel, but hardly at all in the synoptics.
This is one of 3 mentions of this family:
1. Jesus was their guest – this week. Luke 10:38-42
2. John 11:1-44 When Lazarus had died, Jesus came to Bethany. Martha, upon being told that He was approaching, went out to meet Him, while Mary sat still in the house until He sent for her. It was to Martha that Jesus said: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”
3. John 12:1-8 About a week before the crucifixion, as Jesus reclined at table, Mary poured a flask of expensive perfume over Jesus’ feet. Mary was criticized for wasting what might have been sold to raise money for the poor, and again Jesus spoke on her behalf.
On the basis of these incidents, many Christian writers have seen Mary as representing Contemplation (prayer and devotion), and Martha as representing Action (good works, helping others); or love of God and love of neighbor respectively.
Martha like the Samaritan is welcoming and is doing what women then were supposed to do – getting the house ready for the visitor. However, she is overwhelmed. We don’t how many guests there are. Where Jesus goes there are at least 12 other guys following him…and then the gravity and reality of the invitation comes crashing down on her. She is distracted. By contrast, Mary is sitting at the master’s feet, intent on listening to him but not lifting a finger to help.
Martha wants Jesus to tell Mary “get with it” and help out. Instead Jesus turns the tables and praises Mary saying “Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
So what’s going on here ? There are a variety of interpretations
1. The Kingdom is being brought to all and in particular women
Jesus is crossing Jewish cultural bounds – he is alone with women who are not his relatives; a woman serves him; and he teaches a woman in her own house.
Women were not supposed to sit with teachers as the disciples did. Mary is assuming a male role – at the feet of Jesus.
In the first century, rabbis did not teach women. Outside of being instructed in their proper gender roles according to custom and law, women received no education.
Both in the previous story, the Samaritan and this story, they are moving beyond boundaries. The Samaritan for Luke illustrates the second commandment (‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’). Mary exemplifies the fulfillment of the first commandment. ‘You are to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your energy, and with all your mind.’
2. How do we deal with rivalries ?
The Martha and Mary story is just another in a series of instances of the disciples letting rivalry get in the way. This is similar to James and John and their discussion of “whom is the greatest?” in Mark, Chapter 9.
Martha asks Jesus to intervene. “Tell her then to help me.” Martha has considered by some to be a “control freak.”
Jesus doesn’t mince words in his response. Calling her by name not just once but twice, in a manner that sounds more like a parent than a friend, he describes the situation.
The rivalries that we live in are the things that distract us. Jesus calls us out of these rivalistic relationships and into the Kingdom. Without the rivalry we can still attended to the daily demands of life, but maybe without seeing ourselves as victims of someone.
3. A further study in hospitality
Hospitality, sharing a meal in particular, is a prominent theme throughout Luke and how one is received or not. In the narrative world of Luke, hospitality is multi-dimensional. According to this gospel account, we see hospitality from the perspective of receiving hospitality as well as extending it to another. Hospitality in Luke’s world is not limited to sex, religious preoccupation or county – it is open to all.
In this story, we expect Jesus to affirm the one who welcomes them into her home and prepares all that is needed to make them comfortable.
Yes, serving is encouraged too and follows naturally from following Jesus. This serving, however, is not drudgery, and is not to be accompanied by anxiety, distraction, worry, and trouble.
This story is a clarification of hospitality in the Samaritan story. Both Mary and Martha are doing. Doing is not the only thing. Eternal life is not gained in just the doing, but in the receiving – in hearing and believing.
4. Another alternative?
Mary & Martha’s story is a story about priorities and choices.
It’s about choosing to make God a priority in our lives and not merely the façade of God in our lives a priority.
Often we get consumed with making sure everything is in its place and there is a place for everything.
What is the most important thing we should be doing in the context of our daily activities ?
It’s about choosing to allow God to shape us into the people God needs us to be and then allowing God to use us to impact those around us in healthy, up-lifting, God-inspired ways.
What God wants for us is to become comfortable at his feet and “engage in the task” of sitting and listening as he reminds us of how really good life can be – even when life is not going as we have planned. And as we sit and remember what God promises, then we can go out and do as God wants.
In Eugene Peterson’s, The Message, Jesus’ words to Martha are, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it – it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”
“Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
What really matters is how these two responded to God’s presence in their midst.
Thinking about God’s word as the “main course” in the feast of Life, however, doesn’t give that immediate sense that listening is better than doing. Instead, it places these two activities in balance. The word calls for us to both sit and listen AND to go and do.
Since this story is about “turning the tables” one further extension of that is to consider Jesus the host and not Martha. Jesus is the host, not Martha or Mary or anyone of us, and he spreads the word like a banquet to nourish and strengthen us. The word has within it commands both to sit and listen, and to go and do. We “sit on our salvation,” but then scatter into the world and work of daily life.
We must balance the role of food-preparer with that of friend and listener. Her actions are actually causing separation from Jesus at the same time she is drawing her into the home.
As with previous weeks, there is an urgency involved.
The key is that there is an urgency to the kingdom. In Chapter 10 we saw several weeks ago, there is no time to rest; no time to bury the dead, even a parent; no time to say goodbye to family; no looking back (10:57-62). it. We might consider Martha’s concern for hospitality as similar to the “distractions” Jesus names at the outset of the journey to Jerusalem. Seeking God’s Kingdom is the first priority above all else, even the common customs of hospitality.
If you look carefully, Jesus doesn’t say anything about not cleaning house or preparing dinner. He is not saying people should not have “many things” to do. Martha’s issue is not that she is a busy person. She is distracted by her many tasks and missing the fundamentals of having a chance to hear the gospel.
Like the lawyer last week in the Good Samaritan, Martha is focused on “me.” “Why do I have to get the house ready, while Mary gets the best role.” We see this is in many churches. “Why does so and so get to do this while I alway have to wash dishes.”
The author of the blog “Theological Stew gets the heart of the matter: “But here’s what I see in this. Martha was so busy with her eyes on what Mary was doing that she wasn’t being faithful to her own calling. The interesting thing is that Martha could have been just as close to Jesus doing what she was doing as Mary was sitting at his feet. She just didn’t see it.”
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2025
Click here to view in a new window.
Mary Magdalene (July 21)
“Noli Me Tangere” (Touch Me Not) – Correggio (1534)
In Bishop Curry’s book Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus, he writes “We need some crazy Christians like Mary Magdalene and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Christians crazy enough to believe that God is real and that Jesus lives. Crazy enough to follow the radical way of the Gospel. Crazy enough to believe that the love of God is greater than all the powers of evil and death.”
Facts from Living Discipleship:Celebrating the Saints:
- We know Mary was from Magdala in Galilee (thus the surname “Magdalene”).
- Luke reports that Jesus cast seven demons out of her (8:2). After her healing, rather than returning to her home, Mary Magdalene followed Jesus for the rest of his life and ministry. While she followed Jesus, she also helped provide financial support (Luke 8:1-3). Unlike most of the other disciples, she was present at his crucifixion, remaining faithfully with him as the others fled and hid (John 19:25). She then accompanies Jesus’ mother to bury the body of Jesus (Matthew 27:51); she is the only one of his followers who is there when his body is laid in the tomb (Mark 15:47).
- All four gospels report that Mary Magdalene was the first witness to Jesus’ Resurrection. As if that were not enough, she is the one who is commissioned by Jesus to go and tell the other disciples this good news (John 20:17-18, Mark 16:9-11). For this reason she is often called “the apostle to the apostles.”
- From John -John 20:1-18 Early on Sunday morning (“the first day of the week”), before dawn, Mary Magdalene (witness to Jesus’ death and burial) comes to the tomb and finds that the “stone” door has been rolled back, so she and those with her (“we”, v. 2) tell “Peter and the other disciple” (traditionally thought to be John) that they suspect that someone has removed the body. The “other disciple”, apparently younger, outruns Peter (v. 5). But the orderliness of the “cloth” (v. 7) and “linen wrappings” show that the body has neither been stolen nor spiritualized. John, when he sees, comes to trust that God is active; by implication, Peter does not understand yet. They do not yet understand the significance of what is occurring (v. 9), of how it fits into God’s plan, because they have not yet fully received the Holy Spirit.
The remainder of the reading (vv. 11-18) concentrates on the experiences of the solitary Mary Magdalene in the garden: her weeping (v.11a); her sight of two angels inside the tomb and her response to their question about the cause of her tears (vv. 11b-13); her sudden sight of the ‘gardener’ whom she failed to recognise as Jesus (v.14); Jesus’s identical question to that of the angels, with the additional and significant, ‘Whom are you looking for?’ (v. 15a;) and Mary’s uncomprehending response (v.15b). She recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name. But something has changed: they are in a new relationship: “do not hold on to me” (v. 17). Since he has not yet reached his goal of returning to the Father she must not cling to him or try to keep him to herself (v.17a). Significantly, Mary again becomes an ‘apostle to the apostles’, charge with a message of promise (ascension) as much as of fulfilment (resurrection), conveyed in a manner that highlights the deepened relationship his followers would enjoy with the risen, ascended Jesus as his brothers and sisters, and with the Father as his beloved children (vv.17b-18).
- Many believe that Mary Magdalene also became a leader in the early church, and her influence on some forms of Christianity lasted well into the fourth and fifth centuries. Some traditions propose that after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Mary Magdalene followed the Beloved Disciple John to Ephesus, where she died. Another (late) tradition tells of her journey to France by way of boat with Lazarus.
- There are a whole lot of Marys in the New Testament! This makes it difficult to know who is being described in certain passages and has led to much confusion about Mary Magdalene. The extra-canonical Gospel of Philip captures this confusion well: “There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary his mother and her sister and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. For Mary is his sister and his mother and the one he is joined with” (59:6-11).
- Regardless, Mary is singled out as Magdalene in the New Testament twelve times, more often than most of the male apostles!
- Mary Magdalene’s special status as a close friend and benefactor of Jesus is supported amply by New Testament evidence. One significant text is the so-called Gospel of Mary. In this text, the disciples repeatedly affirm her status as someone whom Jesus loved more than all the other disciples. She is given a place of authority and teaches Peter, Andrew, Levi, and other followers about the mysteries of the kingdom of God. After Peter rebukes her, Levi replies, “Peter you have always been hot tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well. That is why he loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as he commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said. And when they heard this they began to go forth to proclaim and to preach” (9:6-10).
- It is commonly believed that Mary Magdalene was a repentant prostitute. Although the New Testament in no way suggests that she was, some important early church fathers, notably Ephrem the Syrian and Saint Gregory the Great, depicted her as such, and the image stuck. Some have suggested that they did so intentionally out of spite, as Mary Magdalene was an important figure in some forms of heterodox Christianity
St. James the Apostle, July 25
St. Josemaria Institute
We celebrate James the Apostle on July 25. With his brother, John, the Gospels (Matthew 4, 21-22; Mark 1, 19-20; Luke 5, 10-11) record that they were fishermen, the sons of Zebedee, partners with Simon Peter, and called by Jesus from mending their nets beside the sea of Galilee at the beginning of his ministry
Jesus nicknamed them ‘the sons of thunder’ – perhaps justified by the story (Luke 9, 51-56) that they once wished to call down fire from heaven to destroy a village which had refused them hospitality.
They made it to key events in Jesus life – the Transfiguration, Gethsemene and at various healings and miracles – Peter’s mother-in-law and raising of Jairus’s daughter. Obviously, James was of Jesus closest followers.
He is known as James the Great to distinguish him from James the Less, or James the brother of the Lord.
About AD 42, shortly before Passover (Acts 12), James was beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great (who tried to kill the infant Jesus–Matthew 2). James was the first of the Twelve to suffer martyrdom, and the only one of the Twelve whose death is recorded in the New Testament.
Tradition is he was a missionary to Spain in his life and, at his death, was buried at Compostela, a site of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.
Relics of the saints were believed to possess great power. Spain needed it in the 8th century. Jerusalem fell to the armies of Islam in 636 A.D., and less than a century later, in 711, Spain was also invaded and conquered. Islam rapidly reached northern Spain, and sent raiding parties into France. In northwest Spain, however, a small Christian kingdom, including Asturias and present-day Galicia, emerged in the 8th century, and at this time James’ tomb was discovered near Finisterre. James was the most senior member of the intercessionary hierarchy whose relics remained undiscovered. The discovery of his tomb helped to bolster the resistance.
In the 12th Century Santiago came to rank with Rome and Jerusalem as one of the great destinations of medieval pilgrimage. The first cathedral was built over the site of James tomb, and Benedictine houses were established. The cathedral where he is buried was depicted in the film, The Way, at the end of the “Way of St. James”, a pilgrim’s path across Spain.
The relics of St James are housed in a silver casket below the high altar, above which his statue presides over the cathedral. On the feast of St James on July 25, and other high days and holy days, a giant censer, the Botafumeiro, is swung on ropes by red-coated attendants in a great arc from floor to vaults, emitting clouds of incense over delighted crowds. It’s considered a symbol of both the cathedral and the city.
Here is the scene from The Way that depicts the pilgrims reaching Santiago and venturing to the cathedral with the swinging of the censer or incense burner. This has never been filmed before and the production crew had to get special permission to film it. They were allowed only 1 hour!
The “Way” is actually many paths across France and Northern Spain that has been followed by pilgrims for 800 years. In recent decades it has enjoyed a resurgence as a spiritual journey with many organized and unorganized journeys. You can the take the route across Northern Spain (800km) taking 6 weeks or break it up into shorter journeys.
What Mary gets that Martha doesn’t
Colossians 1:15-29 – “Christ in You”
“This mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but now is revealed to God’s saints… is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
—Colossians 1.27-28
A poem by Steve Garnaas-Holmes for Martha called “One Thing Is Needed,”
“There will be the clutter and clatter of pans
the rumble and jumble of traffic and trains
the brambles of papers and lists and calls
the beaten paths, the errands, the chores.
“You don’t have to rattle and run with them.
You can do one thing at a time.
“You can stop
and sit at the feet of the moment,
pay reverent attention to whatever it is,
and listen to the silence beneath the hum,
and simply be
in the presence of the presence.
“In all your doing that you surely must do,
you still can just be.
And your being
will become what you do.
“In the stillness within the action
sits the Beloved
who is not distracted by many things,
but only wants to sit awhile with you. ”
We have to look inside to see our own unique gifts that are a part of our community . These appear in soul searching as a result of our faith if we take the time to search them out. And we have to be ready to receive the gifts of others as well.
Martha as well as May has the opportunity to receive God’s grace through faith through their identification with Christ. Martha needs to see that she needs nourishment. She needs to be “renewed in faith and strengthened for service.” Jesus is the host with many gifts to give. We have to take the time to “get it.”
This scripture represents Paul’s dealing with those in Colossae who believe that obedience to the law through the Torah provided the basis for God’s promised blessings. Not so, says Paul. When a person believes in Christ, Christ enters into their being and they receive, as a gift, the full benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection. Thus with “Christ in us” we possess the “hope of glory.” We can all share in his glory It was his effort to preach and incorporate the Gentiles into the body of Christ.
Art -“Christ in the House of Mary and Martha” – Johannes Vermeer
The painting is inspired by Luke 10:38-42 where Jesus enters the home of Mary and Martha. It happens after the Good Samaritan. The passage only occurs in Luke’s Gospel.
Martha greets Jesus but is preoccupied with tasks. Mary chose listening to the teachings of Jesus over helping her sister prepare food. Jesus is friends with this family who live in Bethany. Later, just before the crucifixion, Jesus will raise Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus.
The three figures are bound in a circular composition. Circular compositions were frequently employed to unite complex figure groupings and impede the viewer’s eye from straying aimlessly around the picture If, however, the implied circle becomes too influential, the observer may feel subliminally entrapped. As a remedy Dutch artists often included a sort of escape route Vermeer provided a similar visual relief in the half-opened doorway to the dark recess of the upper left-hand corner of the composition.
The work is known for the handling of light and shadow. The play of light on different surfaces such as the loaf of bread or the different fabrics (Mary seated) is noted. There is color contrast in Mary’s clothing. Martha is statuesque with her downcast eyes. She seems to ignore Jesus pointing. The painting seems to be echoing the last verse. But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Dutch interior paintings are their own genre in the 17th century. Many of the paintings focus on love and/or the virtues of domestic life, the latter appropriate for this painting. The Dutch had fought a ware for independence culminating in 1648 The new Dutch Republic was the most prosperous nation in Europe and led European trade, science, and art. A distinctive feature of the period, compared to earlier European painting, was the limited number of religious paintings. Dutch Calvinism forbade religious paintings in churches, and though biblical subjects were acceptable in private homes, relatively few were produced.
This is one of the largest and earliest surviving paintings by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). It is also his only known work of a biblical subject though he was a specialist of interiors. It was done between 1654-1656.
Around the time that he painted this picture, Vermeer married Catharina Bolnes, the youngest daughter of a wealthy Catholic in Delft, Maria Thins. This match would have required Vermeer’s conversion to Catholicism, and the young couple soon moved in with the bride’s mother. Given its large size, it is likely that Christ in the House of Martha and Mary was a specific commission, possibly intended for a clandestine Catholic church in Delft or for a Catholic patron, perhaps even Vermeer’s mother-in-law.