Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus July 29, 2024

LK 10:38-42

Jesus entered a villagewhere a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.She had a sister named Marywho 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 carethat 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 partand it will not be taken from her."

Reflection

This reading has always reminded me very much of sibling dynamics, and I can easily imagine my own sisters playing the parts of these roles. While I have always found this reading funny I have also always found it a little unfair too. I think as a middle sister I can recognize how I could easily fit into the roles of Mary and Martha. I laugh at how Mary got away with not doing much work but also wondered why Martha was chastised so harshly. Is it not natural to be hospitable and serve your guests? Is it not natural to be annoyed having to do all the work by oneself while your younger sibling doesn’t help at all and gets to do seemingly nothing with guests over? Is it not natural to want and ask for help? Why then did Jesus rebuke Martha? As I reflected on this these lines stood out to me, “Martha, burdened with much serving” and “Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing”. I realized that the problem was not Martha serving by herself and asking for help so much as it was she was doing so for the wrong reasons. Her priorities were not in order. While she was busy burdened with worrying about preparing food or serving her guests she lost sight of an important aspect of hospitality. Jesus was right there and she wasn’t listening to Him, too busy bustling around and worrying about what she was doing. Being hospitable is good and natural however, she forgot what was most important, being present and listening to her guest. This made me think of our lives today and how often we lose sight of what's important. I can think of times during mass when my mind will drift to anxieties or worries in my life instead to focusing completely on Jesus. Worries are distractions that prevent us from being present with Jesus in the Eucharist. When we are stressed out, anxious and worried let us remember, “There is need of only one thing”, Jesus. Let us give those worries to Him in order to remain present in our own lives.