MY sister and I sat in my family house’s backyard porch last night to enjoy a home-cooked meal and a nice cool evening breeze. As we ate, we chatted about my recent 25th Anniversary celebration, the relatives and friends and other guests that came to the affair, and the family reunions that followed.
After dinner, while listening to our favorite songs of the 70s and the 80s, we continued to talk about growing up in the Philippines. We reminisced the adolescent years we spent in our ancestral home and laughed at the happy memories we had with childhood friends.
As we sat and chatted about anything that came to our minds, I felt completely relaxed. This form of relaxation is becoming rare to do, I mused, while lazily enjoying an evening without responding to an e-mail, looking at Facebook posts, planning an activity, doing some chores, or working on a project. We sat next to each other just being ourselves and enjoying each other’s company.
As many of us spend summer, going on vacation or just enjoying a backyard dinner, perhaps the best thing that we can do for one another is to enjoy each other’s company by being fully present to one another and by listening to each other’s life stories. In a world now filled with social media and technology, we seem to put less value on meaningful presence and conversations. Even at dinner, we look at our cell phones to see text messages, Instagram and Facebook posts, instead of engaging in delightful conversations. We don’t realize that the more healing and wholesome experiences of life are the times when we listen and are fully present to one another.
The Gospel this Sunday reminds us to choose the “better part” as we live our daily lives. While Martha kept herself busy in the kitchen, her sister, Mary, sat beside Jesus at his feet listening to him as he spoke. Then, Martha complained to Jesus why Mary was not helping her with the household chores. To this remark, Jesus responded, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.”
The “better part” that Mary chose was to be fully present to Jesus and to listen him speak. It was a value that Jesus brought up to Martha in the midst of their hectic family life.
Meaningful presence is what we all need in the midst of our busy lives. It’s a state of being that does not loathe work or other activities at all, but rather promotes wellness so that we can be “better” with our jobs and responsibilities. It’s what we need to feel connected with fellow human beings. It’s what our souls long for to be at peace.
The world will be a better and safer place if we promote meaningful presence and conversations. Perhaps, the reason why the world is in such bad shape today is that of our inability to be mutually present to one another—listening to each other’s needs, respecting one another’s ways and boundaries, and responding to one another’s wants.
In this culture of violence, all religions and countries must promote meaningful presences and respectful conversations. Without contradicting any actions needed to build a better and safer world, religious groups and political leaders need to heed the call of Jesus—sit next to each other and listen to each other’s longings!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of ImmAaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.