July 20, 2025 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02We step into this deeply personal
2. 0:05conversation today, a conversation of
3. 0:10our risen the risen Christ, the risen
4. 0:13Christ wants to have with every one of
5. 0:15us.
6. 0:17And we overhear this conversation not in
7. 0:20the temple, not in a synagogue, but in
8. 0:24the f in the home of two friends, Martha
9. 0:27and Mary and Bethany.
10. 0:30Jesus arrives at their home and what
11. 0:33unfolds is not just this simple story
12. 0:36about hospitality.
13. 0:39What unfolds is this profound lesson
14. 0:42about priorities.
15. 0:45Because at the end of the day, life
16. 0:47comes down to this. What matters most?
17. 0:52How many of us live our lives knowing
18. 0:54what matters but spend most of our time
19. 0:57doing what doesn't?
20. 1:00So much of human happiness, so much of
21. 1:03holiness itself depends on learning how
22. 1:06to set the right priorities and then
23. 1:09holding fast to them.
24. 1:13Let's be honest, that's not easy.
25. 1:16Not in our world, not in the pace that
26. 1:20we live in.
27. 1:22Every one of us feels it. The pressure,
28. 1:26the demands, the endless to-do lists,
29. 1:30the constant ping of our text messages
30. 1:32or emails. We're pulled in every
31. 1:35direction. Work, family, social media,
32. 1:40errands, endless expectations.
33. 1:44Life has become this giant whack-a-ole
34. 1:47game. You remember those when you would
35. 1:48go to the fair, you would hit the little
36. 1:50whack-a-o and it appear on another side
37. 1:54where no matter how fast you swing, it's
38. 1:56always there popping up.
39. 1:59So what's the result?
40. 2:02Well, we start to sacrifice the
41. 2:04important for the sake of the urgent.
42. 2:07We lose ourselves.
43. 2:11And into that chaos, into the
44. 2:13distraction, into the exhaustion,
45. 2:16Jesus speaks directly to Martha and to
46. 2:19every single one of us. Martha, Martha,
47. 2:23you're worried and distracted by many
48. 2:26things, but only one thing is necessary.
49. 2:31Only one thing, he tells her
50. 2:34that should stop us cold.
51. 2:38What is that one thing?
52. 2:41Let's look at the scene again. Martha's
53. 2:44busy. She's serving. She's doing.
54. 2:48And none of it is wrong. It's all very
55. 2:51good.
56. 2:53In fact, hospitality matters.
57. 2:56Service matters. Jesus calls us to
58. 2:59serve. But here's the critical
59. 3:01distinction.
60. 3:04Martha is doing all of this while
61. 3:06missing the guest himself. She gets lost
62. 3:09in all of this busyiness.
63. 3:13Mary, meanwhile, does something radical.
64. 3:16She sits. She listens.
65. 3:20It's not that Mary ignores her
66. 3:22responsibilities. She simply understands
67. 3:24the order.
68. 3:26Relationship become relationships come
69. 3:30before work.
70. 3:32presence before productivity.
71. 3:36She realizes that Jesus didn't come
72. 3:38seeking what they could give him,
73. 3:41but to give himself to them. And that's
74. 3:44the difference.
75. 3:46Martha was working for Jesus. Mary was
76. 3:50being with Jesus. And Jesus says, "Mary
77. 3:53has chosen the better part."
78. 3:56Why? Well, because presence must always
79. 4:00come before service.
80. 4:02So, here's the question that Jesus wants
81. 4:04us to answer today. What are you
82. 4:07choosing?
83. 4:09Are you filling your life with
84. 4:11distractions, even good ones, while
85. 4:14neglecting the one relationship that
86. 4:16matters the most?
87. 4:19Are you living as if God is your
88. 4:21priority, or just saying it while life
89. 4:24proves otherwise?
90. 4:27Because here's the uncomfortable truth.
91. 4:30We can serve God without loving him.
92. 4:33We can work for the church without
93. 4:35knowing Christ.
94. 4:38Martha wasn't wrong to serve,
95. 4:41but she was wrong to put service before
96. 4:44presence.
97. 4:46And so many of us do that.
98. 4:49We give God our leftover time, our
99. 4:53distracted prayers, our rushed moments
100. 4:57at mass. We believe in him,
101. 5:01but do we sit at his feet?
102. 5:03How many of you are listening to me now
103. 5:05or maybe daydreaming of what's next?
104. 5:08What do you need to do for the rest of
105. 5:09the day? Or maybe you have to go to
106. 5:10Publix, so you have to go do this or
107. 5:12that.
108. 5:15Do we let him feed us?
109. 5:19The priority Jesus speaks about is not
110. 5:21just adding God to our to-do list. one
111. 5:25thing among many things that I need to
112. 5:27accomplish.
113. 5:29It's letting him become the very center
114. 5:31around which then everything else
115. 5:35revolves.
116. 5:37He's not asking you to stop working.
117. 5:39He's not asking you not to go out and
118. 5:41serve. He's asking you to work with your
119. 5:45heart anchored in him.
120. 5:48He's not asking you to abandon your
121. 5:50responsibilities. He's asking you to see
122. 5:53him in the midst of it all.
123. 5:56Martha's hands with Mary's heart. That's
124. 6:00what we need to do. That's the Christian
125. 6:02life. Martha's hands with Mary's heart.
126. 6:07Let me be practical.
127. 6:10Every one of us needs to ask, "Where am
128. 6:13I investing my best energy?
129. 6:16Where do my thoughts go when I am bored
130. 6:19or tired?
131. 6:21Who owns my calendar?
132. 6:24What fills my mind? What consumes my
133. 6:27heart?
134. 6:29Because the way we spend our time
135. 6:32reveals the way we will spend our soul.
136. 6:36Jesus says today, only one thing is
137. 6:38necessary.
138. 6:40So here's a challenge for this Sunday.
139. 6:44Make prayer, make reading the scriptures
140. 6:47the very center of your life, not the
141. 6:50leftover. If I have time, Jesus,
142. 6:53make Sunday mass the non-negotiable. I
143. 6:56will be at mass every Sunday. It is the
144. 6:58center of my week. It is the most
145. 7:00important day of the of the week.
146. 7:04And then finally, let Christ not be part
147. 7:06of your schedule, but the purpose of
148. 7:09your life.
149. 7:12And when you serve, whether it's at
150. 7:14home, at work, in a ministry here at St.
151. 7:17Augustine's, serve with a heart like
152. 7:20Mary's,
153. 7:21your eyes fixed on him,
154. 7:24hands working for him, souls anchored in
155. 7:28him, because every mass is Bethany,
156. 7:32every eukarist is Christ entering your
157. 7:34home.
158. 7:36So my brothers and sisters, today, sit
159. 7:38at his feet. Renew your commitment to
160. 7:42him. Make Christ the very center of your
161. 7:45life. Let him feed you. Let him teach
162. 7:48you what is that one important thing.
163. 7:52Because he's not asking you for what you
164. 7:54can do.
165. 7:57He knows you can do a lot. He's not
166. 7:59asking you that. He's asking for your
167. 8:02heart and for your attention. Amen.