Jesus' (& Mary Magdalen's) Rejection of Our Work Ethic (Sunday Homily)

I used to think that too until I read Un Tal Jesus ("A Certain Jesus") written by Maria Lopez Vigil and her brother, Jose Ignacio. (The book has been translated into English under the title Just Jesus.) The authors are Cuban and now live in Nicaragua. Maria is a former nun; Jose Ignacio, a former priest.

Together the Lopez-Vigils created a series of radio programs broadcast all over Latin America. The shows dramatized the four gospels and presented a very human Jesus the one who emerges from recent scholarship on the historical Jesus.

In Un Tal Jesus, Jesus is black, has a winning smile, and a very down-to-earth sense of humor. (The photo at the top of this blog entry shows Jesus as depicted in the Lopez-Vigil's book.) The human Jesus portrayed in that radio series scandalized many and inspired even more throughout the Latin world and beyond.

As the Lopez-Vigils envision it, today's episode takes place in a Bethany tavern owned by Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary. It's a place of eating, drinking and lodging for travelers. It's a place of laughter, joking, and drunkenness. And Jesus is right there in the middle of it all.

Passover is approaching, and the inn is full of pilgrims. It's steamy, noisy, and loud. Martha is on the job, waiting on tables and controlling the rest of the staff. Meanwhile Mary (whom scholars increasingly identify with Mary Magdalene, Jesus closest female companion) is distracted by conversation with Jesus, who is bantering with his friends.

And what are they talking about? Religion? God? Spirituality? No, they're joking. Jesus is posing riddle after riddle. And Mary finds it completely entertaining. In part, their dialog goes like this:

Jesus: What's as small as a mouse but it guards the house like a lion. One, two, three: Guess what it is!
Mary: Small as a rat"and"it's a key! I guessed it, I guessed it!
Jesus: Listen to this one: It's as small as a nut, has no feet but can climb a mountain.
Mary: Wait" a nut going up the mountain"a snail!"Ha, ha, ha, tell me another one!
Jesus: You won't guess this one right. Listen well: It has no bones, it is never quiet, with edges sharper than scissors.
Mary: It has no bones" I don't know"
Jesus: It's your tongue, Mary, which never rests!

Well, Mary and Jesus might have found that sort of patter entertaining, but Martha did not. She's in charge of the inn and is worried about her guests waiting impatiently for their food while bread is burning in the oven. So, she makes her complaint to Jesus: "Stop your chatter and let my sister do her job!" It's then that Jesus makes that remark about Mary's choosing the better part. She's chosen socializing and play over work.

Does that scandalize you Jesus distancing himself from work? Well, it seems completely consistent with what I said about Jesus earlier. It coincides with his general approach to work, money, profit, saving, and anxiety about the future.

What difference would it make in our own lives if we accepted that message: socializing, community, and fun are more important than the work people like Donald Luskin would have us devote our entire lives to?

What difference would it make in our culture if, in a context of underpaid labor and long hours on the job we elected candidates advocating "spreading the work around," spreading the money around, shortening the work week, and affording us more time with friends and family, eating, drinking, joking, and playing?

That's the message of today's Gospel reading: we need more free time, more vacations, and assured dignified retirement.

Wake up, Mr. Luskin! Wake up, American workers: You have nothing to lose but your chains.

P.S.

Here's what Luskin actually said, with a commentary by TYT's John Iadarola:

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