Luke 10:38-42

Galatians 1:13-24

Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, help me and move me to choose the better part. I want to have a healthy balance of prayerful contemplation and loving service in my life. I want my charitable works to be sustained by communion with you and for my life of prayer to flourish in works of love.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Martha of Bethany: The Gospel story of Martha and Mary invites us to reflect on our daily lives and examine our life of service and our life of prayer. On the outside, it looks like Martha is doing the right thing. Her house was filled with guests, and someone had to prepare the meals, clean the house, and keep everything in order. But the Gospel tells us that internally, Martha was anxious and worried and burdened by much serving. The ideal we need to seek is service in love. Instead of being anxious, we should strive for joyful service. Instead of being worried, we should strive to please both God and our brothers and sisters. If we do our best and are attentive to the needs of others, there is no reason to be anxious and worried. Serving others shouldn’t be a burden because what we do for others, we do for Jesus Christ. This doesn’t mean that we won’t be tired, exhausted, or have to solve problems as they arise. It means rather that we will carry our burden with Christ and for Christ. It means that we will be aided by the fortitude of the Holy Spirit. We shouldn’t think of Martha and Mary, service and prayer, as competing in our lives. The ideal is found in a unity of life, where work can be prayer and prayerful work can be apostolate. As Saint Paul says: “carry one another's burdens, and thus you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Both prayer and work need to be sustained by love.

2. Paul’s Former Way of Life: In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul offers a defense of the Gospel he preached to them. In the First Reading, he wants to tell us about how Christ acted in his life and how he went from persecuting the Church of God to preaching the Christian Faith he once tried to destroy. Paul encountered the Risen Christ, and this encounter transformed him, corrected his way of thinking, and renewed his entire life. “The dazzling radiance of the Risen Christ blinds him; thus, what was his inner reality is also outwardly apparent, his blindness to the truth, to the light that is Christ. And then his definitive ‘yes’ to Christ in Baptism restores his sight and makes him really see” (Benedict XVI, September 3, 2008).

3. Lessons Learned: Mary encountered Jesus by placing herself at the feet of Jesus and listening to the words of her Master. Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and obeyed the words of his Lord. Mary sought to live according to Jesus’ teaching; Paul was called to be an Apostle to the nations. Mary and Martha learned how to live in communion and in harmony. As well, Paul learned that he had to enter into communion with the Church, he had to be baptized and live in harmony with the other Apostles. “Only in such communion with everyone could he have been a true apostle” (Benedict XVI, September 3, 2008). Our encounter with Jesus is an event that transforms us. Some of us are like Martha, busy with and burdened by much serving. In this case, we need to hear the invitation of Christ to listen to his words and make sure that our work is fruit of prayer and love. Some of us are like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, but very soon, we need to stand up and live out the Gospel we have heard and contemplated. Some of us are like Paul, headstrong and passionate, but in need of being transformed by Jesus Christ, entering into deeper communion with others and with the Church, and being led by the Holy Spirit.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I choose the better part. I want to be at your feet to listen to your words and serve my brothers and sisters without being anxious. Help me to trust in the providential care of your Father and imitate your love in all that I do.

Living the Word of God: Is there an imbalance in my life? Am I doing good works without much prayer? Or am I neglecting the needs of my brothers and sisters as I dedicate time to God? What is God asking me to do to improve the balance in my life between prayer and charitable service?