Jul 20th, 2025: Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42)

Martha, Martha – yes, our Martha. Martha is busy, “anxious and worried about many things”, while Mary “sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak”. And Jesus says, right there in the Gospel, that there is need of only one thing, and that Mary had chosen that thing: the better part.

There’s a dichotomy here – two opposite paths: one, between being distracted, burdened, anxious and worried about many things. The other: being focused on the Lord. What appears, at first glance to be…two different paths.

As a side note, Martha was the busy one, and yet, she was the one who stopped what she was doing to welcome Jesus when he knocked.

Martha was “burdened with much serving. But the implication here is that she was probably waiting on them (Jesus and Mary) and fixing food for the three of them. If you read between the lines.

Well, how many people here have ever had someone, a group of people, at your home for a dinner party? Were you busy, anxious, worried about cleaning before they arrived; and about serving and entertaining once they got there? Would that have been a good time to just stop, go to your room, shut the door and pray for an hour or two – listening to the Lord in contemplative prayer?

If no one cleans the house, cooks the meal, serves the guest, then the guest doesn’t eat!

How about another example of being busy, anxious, worried about many things: What about our work? We all – most of us – have to have a job. Even Paul says to the Thessalonians: “If anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.” We have to work, and there’s nothing wrong with having a strong work ethic, but do we ever get so wrapped up in our career, our income, our status; that it becomes the priority in our life: what we worship? That’s called idolatry.

I once knew a gentleman – true story – who spent his life building an empire – HIS empire, much to the detriment and dismay of his family. And then, when death was at his door, his final command, so that everyone would know what He had built, was literally that he be buried under the company sign – that bears his name – in the front yard of the company. That sign, to this day, is his headstone. Does that mean a hill of beans…today…to his family? The time that he missed with them while he had it to give? Is that the priority Christ calls us to in this reading?

There are so many things in life that can so easily become our priority. That steal our attention away from Jesus…who knocks at the door…when life is happening. We get ourselves so wrapped up in things that, in the end, just don’t matter. In doing that, we fail to prioritize what’s really important in life: our relationship with God, with our family, and with our friends.

So, let’s talk about Mary for a minute. Mary took the position of sitting with the guest. In this case the guest was…The Christ: the savior of the world. She took the opportunity to “sit beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak”. And again, Jesus tells Martha: ‘there is need of only one thing, and that Mary had chosen that thing: the better part.’ So, based on this, we know there are times when our priority, our focus, our energy is supposed to be spent on the Lord…We have to stop everything and answer the door when Jesus knocks. When the savior of the world speaks to us, we are called to stop, to sit at his feet, and listen (contemplative prayer).

Mary chose the better part, because she chose Jesus over the things that did not need to be done in that moment. Mary didn’t have to be working herself to death right then and there. And neither did Martha! Everyone was still going to eat, and they could have fixed the meal together.

So, how do we choose the right priority in this hectic life? How do we weigh the hectic against the heavenly?

One thing that I think is helpful is to start your day with prayer, to focus on God as the first thing we do when we wake up in the morning. Through contemplative prayer – listening to his voice, through Liturgy of the Hours, or as a friend of mine recently reminded me, with the Morning Offering Prayer: Lord, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day.

Saint Ignatius pointed out that God can be found in all things: In our work, as well as in our worship. When we learn to pay more attention to God, like our marriage and our family, we become closer to him; in all the things we do!

So, as we think about the demands of our lives, relative to Martha’s busyness and Mary’s contemplativeness, listen to this poem. We’ve all heard it, & while it might be a little cliché; listen to it this time with an ear for how we can make Jesus our priority: the center, or the foundation, of our home, our work, and everything we do:

 I got up early one morning

 And rushed right into the day;

I had so much to accomplish

That I didn’t take time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me,

And heavier came each task,

“Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered.

He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I wanted to see joy and beauty,

But the day toiled on gray and bleak;

I wondered why God didn’t show me;

He said, “My child you didn’t seek.”

I tried to come into God’s presence;

I used all my keys at the lock;

God gently and lovingly chided,

“My child you didn’t knock.”

I woke up early this morning,

And paused before entering the day;

I had so much to accomplish

That I had to take time to pray.

The author of this poem is unknown. Thank God – literally – that she prioritized listening to God’s voice and writing down what she heard, for all of us to hear.