Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 10:38-42)
Most likely St. Luke intended that today’s gospel be read in
tandem with yesterday’s. He often pairs
stories of a woman and a man. After Mary
delivers her canticle praising God, Zachariah pronounces his. After Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Christ
child, Ana makes a similar declaration.
Later in the gospel Jesus tells the parable of the woman searching for
her lost drachma after relating the one of the shepherd and lost sheep. Evidently Luke wants his readers to know that
Christ calls women as well as men to follow him.
Yesterday’s parable and today’s report of Jesus visiting the
home of Martha and Mary bear another sign of inclusiveness. Both break through the boundaries of custom and,
indeed, of established order. Samaritans
were to be distrusted, yet the one in the parable saves the Jewish man’s
life. Women were to serve in the home,
yet Mary takes her seat as Jesus’ primary disciple. Jesus breaks the rules of propriety although
not of the moral law. He is saying the
God loves all and wants all to know and love Him.
Customs and order enable us to function well, especially when
there is a lot to do. But we should not
be so tied to their rules that we lose sight of other values which can have
precedence. Certainly we want to include
women as well as men in the story of salvation.
Likewise we want to teach women as well as men about God and His love
for all.
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