Martha, Martha ...

Today the Church remembers Mary and Martha of Bethany, Lazarus’ sisters. In today’s reading from the Gospel according to Luke (10:38-42), we hear about Jesus’ visit to their house:

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

You can just imagine the scene. Martha is running around the house making sure that the table is set, that everything tastes just right. She wants to make sure that everything is absolutely perfect after all, Jesus is the guest. Meanwhile, Mary is sitting there taking in everything that Jesus has to say. Martha is just a little upset. She is doing all of the work, and Mary is, well, just sitting there and not lifting a finger. Martha has had enough, and she decides to get Jesus involved. She gets a bit of a surprise. Jesus tells her that she is a little too distracted by trying to get things just right and that she is neglecting to feed her soul by spending some time with him.

To be sure, there is a little of Martha in all of us. There are those times when we are so distracted by trying to get things just perfect and by the tasks which need to be accomplished that we neglect to listen to Jesus. When we fail to listen to Jesus’ voice, we tend to be overwhelmed with what lies ahead of us.

Mary provides a good example; there is a time to work and there is a time to listen. Jesus invites us to spend a little time with him every day in prayer. When we spend that time with Jesus, the many tasks that we are called upon to do, from caring for our families, driving in Houston traffic, doing the grocery shopping, engaging in work to support those whom we love, become much easier. Jesus accompanies us on those tasks and keeps us focused on what is important.