From the Pastor's Desk | July 20, 2025

Feast of St. Martha

St. Martha’s feast day, our patronal feast, occurs on July 29.  The General Instruction of the Roman Missal allows us to move the parish’s patronal feast to the nearest weekend so that the parish community can more robustly celebrate together.  We were going to move it to the weekend of July 26-27, however, the readings this week would have been the same as the readings for our patronal feast.  Rather than listening and preaching on the same readings two weeks in a row, we decided to celebrate a little early.  So, this weekend we celebrate our patronal feast even though we recognize the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.  

I will readily admit, my written reflection below is taken directly from the late Archbishop Michael Byrnes - not in its entirety, but the majority of the reflection below is not my work or my words.  Most of what you read below are his reflections, and I include them here as a way to honor him.  If you watched the video that accompanied my email a few weeks ago and which is accessible here, this will likely sound familiar.  

There are two points that I want to highlight from Archbishop Byrnes’ preaching:

The first is the word burdened.  A better translation comes from the English Standard Version of the Bible in which the word distracted is used: Martha, distracted with much serving…  In Greek, the verb used is in the middle voice meaning that the subject both performs and is affected by the action of the verb.  It is not simply a passive voice.  Rather, the subject is the agent and also experiences the effect of the action.  So, in our Gospel passage it should be understood that Martha was distracting (or burdening) herself with much serving.  The burden or distraction she was experiencing was the result of her own devices.

There is so much to do, right?  However, I think it is important for our reflection to ask ourselves, how do we distract ourselves from our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church?  Fr. Eric Weber, a priest of our diocese and now the pastor of St. Mary in Westphalia, was on faculty during my early time in the seminary.  He taught Church history and served as a spiritual director for a number of the seminarians.  I recall him giving the same homily twice during daily Mass.  (Us priests never give the same homilies more than once…)  He was preaching on the importance of the Holy Hour and how the daily Holy Hour was essential for priests to root themselves in relationship to Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist.  He recalled a story of a fellow priest who was, essentially, complaining to his bishop - a cardinal - that, because he was so busy doing the work of a priest in a large busy parish, he was too busy to pray a daily holy hour.  He was, essentially, distracting himself with much serving.  His bishop responded by saying, “Hmmm, yes you are very busy.  In fact, you should pray two holy hours a day.”  His point was clear.  Our action should be guided by our prayer and our relationship with Jesus Christ.  As Jesus himself says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing (John 15:5).  

Second, I want to point out the word part.  Again, a better translation comes from the English Standard Version of the Bible in which the word portion is used.  Mary has chosen the better portion…  The word portion is directly tied to the word inheritance.  Recall, in the book of Numbers, before the Israelites crossed over the Jordan to inherit the Promised Land, the land was first divided by lot among the Twelve Tribes of Israel each receiving a portion of the inheritance.  

The LORD said to Moses: Among these the land shall be divided as their heritage in keeping with the number of people named. To a large tribe you shall assign a large heritage, to a small tribe a small heritage, each receiving its heritage in proportion to the number enrolled in it. But the land shall be divided by lot, all inheriting according to the lists of their ancestral tribes. As the lot falls the heritage of each tribe, large or small, will be assigned (Numbers 26:52-56).  

The land was God’s way of providing for his people.  It was God’s way of ensuring that his chosen people were seen, known, heard, cared for, and sustained.  It was through the land that they would be provided for.  

In light of Jesus Christ, we understand the Promised Land of Israel to be a foreshadowing of an even greater promise - eternal life.  We are God’s chosen people - adopted sons and daughters because of the blood shed by Jesus Christ on the Cross.  Children receive the inheritance and each of us has been assigned a portion of that inheritance.  That portion is gifted to us out of love of the Father through his Son.  Are we choosing the better portion?  Or, are we distracting ourselves not only with the business of the day but also the seductions of the culture?  

It’s also important to point out that even though our inheritance is the promise of future glory in heaven, God still provides and sustains us in the here and now in the Eucharist - the gift of himself.  Do we see the portion given to us in the here and now as far more important than anything the world could provide?  Or, do we continually seek fulfillment in what the world and culture have to offer?

As we celebrate the great Feast of St. Martha, let our prayer be to simply keep our eyes fixed on Jesus knowing that in him resides the fulfillment of all our desires.  

Know of my prayers for you all! 

Fr. Ryan       

Nota Bene: A word about translations of the Bible.  There are over 900 English translations and paraphrases of the Bible, both complete and partial.  Many of these are older translations no longer in print.  There are, however, at least 20 major English translations available today.  Some are better than others.  Some are Catholic.  Many are not.  The translation we use for the Catholic lectionary is the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE).  In my opinion this translation is simply okay.  It is used because it is widely understandable and accessible.  There are better translations, however.  The two I would point you to are the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition and the English Standard Version Catholic Edition.  Both of these translations are more literal and more accurately tied to the original languages.  

Furthermore, though the Catholic Study Bible is useful, it uses the NABRE translation.  I think a superior study Bible is the English Standard Version Study Bible.  But, I will caution you, it is not a Catholic study Bible.  It is Protestant and because of that some of the interpretation and teaching is insufficient or outright heretical particularly the teaching of the Eucharist.  The deuterocanonical books are also not included in the ESV Study Bible.  So, if you use the ESV Study Bible, use it with a solid understanding of Catholic doctrine as you read it and consult your Catechism of the Catholic Church.