Luke 10: 38 – 42 Mary and Martha
As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary (who) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "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."
This is a very famous scripture passage. Martha and Mary are two sisters whose home Jesus is visiting. I’m guessing that Martha is the older sister since she is the one who welcomes Jesus. She then begins to perform all the traditional tasks that hospitality calls for, tasks that keep her busy and away from actually being with her guest. Mary, her sister, upon meeting Jesus immediately dropped everything she was doing and settled at Jesus feet to listen to his words. Martha appears a bit disgruntled – to the point where she asks Jesus to intervene and set Mary straight. She is upset and anxious about many things, Jesus says, when only one thing is required. What do you think Jesus means by this? The many things are the thousand little details of our lives – everything that we busy ourselves with. The one thing is taking advantage of being with the Lord when presented with the opportunity. That could be daily prayer, or Sunday Mass, or monthly Adoration, or the Women or Mary or the Men of St. Joseph. What ways is Jesus calling me to enter into his presence, sit at his feet and listen to his words?
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For years now, this reading always falls on a Sunday in the summer when I have about 14 people coming for a cookout. I find myself sitting in church wondering if I have time to run to the Market Basket before they arrive. I have to admit that my sympathy usually lies with Martha, because even Jesus, when he was done teaching, was probably hungry and ate what she had been bustling around to prepare. Obviously this story is very much intended for people like me!
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