Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he entered a village, and a woman called Martha welcomed him to her house. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet to listen to his words. Martha, meanwhile, was busy with all the serving, and finally she said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work? Tell her to help me!”
But the Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Reflections
“Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things.”
Martha and Mary are the customary images used to underline the active and the contemplative dimensions of life. Martha is the personification of action in the world and Mary is attention to the Lord. The evangelist Luke recounts this occasion of Jesus’visit to the sisters to impart an important lesson we all need to learn: it is necessary to cultivate a healthy balance between a time to move about with our busy schedules and a time to sit at the foot of Jesus. The Church does not discourage us from attending to the many concerns and worries of life. We need to work, and work over- time if we must, to earn for our needs and meet the demands of our families. But we too need to learn to stop and spend time with the Lord in prayer before we run out of time and realizing too late that we have failed to see “the better part”.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019