Fr. Ernald M. Andal, SJ
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 17, 2016
Some say Filipinos have a compulsion to fill-in emptiness. Horror vacui, I think is the more sophisticated term for this condition. We tend to cram stuff into empty spaces: Jeepney drivers adorn their dashboards with Trolls, trinkets and tiny tapestries. Students cover their already covered notebooks with even more intricate covers of cutouts and colored clippings. Families decorate their living room walls with medals, diplomas, photographs, and just about any other thing that could be hung or pasted on a blank wall just so that it is not left conspicuously void.
This phenomenon, however, is not just true for empty spaces. Filipinos, or maybe people in general, fill-in with all sorts of stuff, spiritual emptiness as well. We usually use work, or should we say, busyness as a “filler.” It is a convenient pill to appease our insecurity; it is built-in façade to show the rest of humanity how we are “A-Okay” and that emptiness doesn’t fill us!
Work sometimes works. But often times when it becomes a disordered attachment, it can spiral down to something a bit destructive, even when the original intention was noble: to help the family, uplift the downtrodden, reach-out to the marginalized. We may feel overburdened, anxious, and resentful. We may also feel neglected and unappreciated as we begrudgingly accomplish our tasks and think no one really cares about what we do.
It comes not as a surprise then that in the short story in today’s Gospel reading most of us actually relate better with Martha than with Mary who seems to do nothing but sit by the feet of the Lord and listen to His stories. We feel sorry for Martha and think that she deserves a compliment more than a reproach. After all, she is the one being “gracious” to their VIP guest.
But then, the Lord gently reminds her (and us) of a different kind of graciousness that He seeks. It is the same kind of graciousness that He actually first shares to them as He visits His dear friends, Mary and Martha, in their own home. It is the graciousness of undivided presence. His presence in their home. His presence in their lives.
The Grace in graciousness essentially is God’s total gift of Himself to us. And this gift of profound presence can be experienced and relished best when we are ready to let go of distractions, or anything than can pull us away from our Lord who has come to be with us, even dwell in us. Inner silence is key. Sensitivity to the Sacred is paramount to embracing our God who has first embraced us with His presence.
In our world that takes pride in productivity and is almost always brimming with busyness, we may find it disconcerting at times to just “sit down by the feet of the Master” and engage his presence with nothing else but our own undivided presence. We feel almost compelled to do something just to be someone significant for the great Other. We feel obliged to fill-in the emptiness of “doing nothing for God.” But the Lord is quick to remind us to first be still and worry not. All is well in His presence. There is really nothing to fear and nothing to fill-in.
Every now and then, it is good to realize that we do not have to be busy all the time before our God. Amidst the buzz of this world it is always good to find that space to be silent and subtly sensitive to the Sacred. Let us first immerse ourselves in God’s graciousness; in God’s intimate sharing of Himself.
Being present to God’s loving presence is a gift to be desired. It is what will inspire us to be that grace for others as well. But first, let us learn well from our gracious Guest who has found a home in our hearts.
Fr. Ernald serves as School Director of St. Isidore High School and Assistant Parish Priest of Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of All Grace in Zamboanguita, Bukidnon. St. Isidore High School is the only Catholic High School in the agricultural area of the Upper Pulangi Region of Bukidnon offering 7th-10th grade programs. With K-12 looming on the horizon, St. Isidore needs to expand its facilities to accommodate the increase in students. Be our mission partner by clicking this site.