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Gospel: 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I’m glad Martha lost her cool. Her frustration teaches us a lesson in discipleship.
Imagine the scene: she’s moving around the kitchen for an hour or two, banging pots and pans, cutting vegetables while mumbling beneath her breath. Finally, she storms into the dining room to confront her sister, Mary, who’s listening attentively to Jesus.
Interrupting their conversation, Martha bursts out, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?”
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Martha just made several mistakes.
First, she accuses the Lord of not caring about her burdens. “Lord, do you not care?”
Then she blames someone else for her anxiety. “My sister has left me to do all the serving.” Somehow, it’s Mary’s fault that Martha is so anxious.
Finally, Martha polishes off her cocktail of complaints by telling the Lord how to solve her problem. “Tell her to help me!”
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Does that ever sound like us? Do we accuse the Lord of being aloof of our burdens? Do we tell God how to help us?
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Jesus rebukes her softly, saying, “You are worried and anxious about many things.” The Lord knows that Martha is not anxious about making a perfect sauce or maintaining a clean kitchen.
Although these things may be bothering her on the surface, in her heart, she is anxious because she’s lost her focus; that day, she is motivated more by duty than by love.
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So it is with us at times.
Think about the ordinary tasks we do throughout the day – going to work, toting the kids across town, doing household chores, interacting with others.
When these activities are motivated more by duty than by love, they can bring the same type of anxiety that Martha experienced. Love, on the other hand, brings peace.
As Saint Paul says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
It brings life to any situation, including ordinary tasks like hosting a meal, or whatever may be on our plate today.
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Image credits: (1) Transformations Care Network (2) Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Diego Velázquez, 1618 (3) I am Fruitful