The sad events of these last few weeks at home and abroad can dispirit the most optimistic of us. The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer as an old song once put it has been hijacked by violence, terrorism and loss of life. How to process and cope with it all? Our readings offer us an answer.
Jesus entered a village where sisters Martha and Mary welcomed him. Can you imagine welcoming Jesus into your home? Having guests in our homes can be nerve wracking. When I was a pastor and the bishop was coming, many in the parish would be stirred up. Now I stir others up. Of course all of us want such visits to go well, to be hospitable and to be fitting. And so we prepare by planning and doing.
This gospel reading reminds us though that to be good disciples and hosts we need balance. We need to serve which Martha represents and we need to pray and listen which Mary does. Last week we heard about the Good Samaritan and the challenge of living our Christian discipleship even at personal risk by reaching out to others. Today’s reading is about the challenge of insuring our active discipleship is nourished spiritually, the importance of listening for God’s voice to guide us. To be good disciples we need to be people of both action and prayer. We need to serve and we need to listen to and talk with God.
St. Benedict is credited with the sound bite: ora et labora, prayer and work. A young monk questioned his abbot about this. He said he had come to the monastery to pray but it seemed like he was mostly required to work. The abbot took him out in a row boat and began to row with only one oar. They just turned in circles. “You need to use both oars,” advised the young monk. “That is true,” said the abbot. “And you need to pray and to work, or you will just go around in circles.” Our culture tends to emphasize the work, all day every day. With the new technology we need never be away from work. But does that hyper activity bring happiness and peace or anxiety?
Martha bluntly stated, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” Imagine telling Jesus what to do. Jesus responded with compassion, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.” Martha had expressed being upset about only one thing, that her sister was not helping her. Jesus knew there was much more to her anxiety than her sister’s lack of help. That is often true of us. Little things can suddenly result in a blow up or harsh words. Those on the receiving end wonder what brought that on. We can use activity to hide our internal struggles that we ought to take to the Lord in prayer.
We need to ponder what is making us react in the way we do and discover if we have become so busy or worried that we have stopped listening for God and therefore feel overwhelmed. Are we so caught up in details of action that they control us? Are we seeking perfection in an imperfect world? Are we so frightened of failure or rejection that we miss the reality of the moment? If so, we need to take that to God, to listen for God, to pray for perspective.
Jesus said to Martha in her anxiety, “There is need of only one thing.” He did not say only one thing is worthwhile or worthy, but one thing is especially required. That one thing is a relationship with Him. Mary was seeking that one thing, sitting at his feet listening. Dwelling on lesser things, however worthy, even hospitality which Jesus praises elsewhere in the Gospels as does our first reading, can create a barrier between us and Christ, and lead to pressure and stress. When Jesus is regularly part of our lives, our necessary work can be kept in perspective and our anxieties lessened.
Jesus also said to Martha, “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Sincere prayer gives us the means to cope with loneliness, loss, unexpected guests whether people or sickness or events. Mary chose to take advantage of the opportunity to listen to and learn from Christ while she could.
There are many ways to listen to God, to pray: Holy Mass, Scripture study, spiritual reading, the rosary, devotions, sacred music and art, and silence. To avoid being worried about many things we need to take the time away from our busyness to just be with Our Lord. St. Francis de Sales wrote, “Each person needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy, then we need an hour.”
The Catholic Digest some years ago told of a young man with cerebral palsy. He had heard about the rosary and that it gave people great consolation. He did not have a rosary nor know how to pray it, so he decided to create his own. He thought there must be a mystery for each day of the week so his mental rosary had seven mysteries for each day. His dream was to join the Air Force. He dedicated his nightly self-defined rosary to that goal. But because of his disability he was rejected. A school assignment was to write a letter of application for a job. He wrote to then President Eisenhower explaining his situation and his dream and requesting a job in the Air Force. According to the Digest story he became the first person with cerebral palsy to be accepted into military service. When he bought his first rosary he learned from the instructions that there were five mysteries each day, not seven. But when he took his new rosary out of the box, it had seven sets of beads. He was assured that this was a mistake of the maker. He believed it was a sign from his creator that prayer works.
God does not always respond to our prayers in the way we want or when we want, but God always gives us what we need if we remain faithful and trustful and listen at his feet.
We too can choose the better part as did Mary to take some quiet time away from the hubbub of our active lives and sit at the feet of our Lord. Jesus can be a guest at our house every day, if we invite him.
Then even in the midst of the sad events of these times, perspective and hope can be ours. Choose the better part.