10/7/14

Luke 10: 38-42

Jesus 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.”

Reflection

“Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”

Jesus concludes this passage by explaining these words to the hard working Martha. But these words have to make you wonder “How is what Mary is doing better than what Martha is doing?”

Taking a close look at the passage would tell us that Martha is preparing a meal for Jesus and the other members of her family. She is making sure everyone has everything they need, continuously checking up on her guests to see if she can get them anything else. She is moving around franticly to make sure everything is perfect for her guest, Jesus. While on the only hand, Mary is doing no more than sitting next to Jesus listening to him.

So then why would Jesus tell Martha that Mary has chosen the better route, the better option, the better path?

In any other circumstance, Martha’s service would greatly outweigh Mary’s. Her hard work and persistence to make everything perfect for her guest would be commended if not rewarded through warm verbally praise. But Jesus is not looking to be served, rather he is looking to serve. He wants to serve Martha by getting to know her and he wants her to serve him by listening to him.

What Jesus is asking of us is that we take the time ourselves to spend with him so that we can get to know him, develop a relationship with him, see his presences in our lives, and perform his will.

However, to many times in our lives we put so many others things before spending time with Jesus. When we wake up in the morning we may initially plan on spending more time with him. We tell ourselves that we are going to read the gospel passage, say an “Our Father”, pray the Rosary, or go to Mass. But for some reason we let other things control our plans. Before we know it, our day is over and we are yet to spend any of it with God.

He is not asking us to spend much time with him. In fact, there is no amount of time specified that we need to spend with God that will lead us to an everlasting relationship with him. What is important is that we spend whatever time we can afford daily to him. Giving of ourselves to him, no matter the length of time, will be fortified and nourished by this immeasurable amount of love for us.

Let us value a deep, intimate relationship with God and put him in the forefront of our minds. Help make it our mission to assure him that “we have chosen the better part” and that an eternal life with God will not be taken from us, but will be granted to us!