Who should we be like – Mary or Martha?

Today’s gospel reading was Luke 10: 32-48. This when Jesus visits the house of Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha gets busy preparing a meal while Mary sits at Jesus’s feet listening to all he says. Martha, as older sisters tend to do, complains about the fact that Mary isn’t helping and she is doing all the work herself.

Jesus tells Martha that she worries too much and that Mary has “chosen the good portion”. Mary is contemplating on what Jesus is saying, she is learning from Him. She is tending to his spiritual needs while Martha is tending to his physical needs.

Is one better than the other? I think that’s a question we all need to think about. As much as it would be nice to sit around and contemplate God all day, we also need to tend to our physical needs. And if we are good disciples of Christ, we need to tend to the needs of our neighbors when called to.

Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;  one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), Lk 10:38–42.

Jesus tells Martha that Mary “has chosen the good portion”. Does this mean we should choose prayer over works? I don’t think so. We are called to do both. First, we should remember that when we are working, we are doing His will. As St. Jose Maria Escrevia writes:

On the contrary, you must understand now, more clearly, that God is calling you to serve Him in and from the ordinary, material and secular activities of human life. – Conversations 114

The good news is that by serving God in every way possible now, we will be better prepared when we stand before Jesus at the gates of heaven, and we will be worthy of passing into heaven. And this means we will have all eternity to be with God and contemplate His word.

I think toiling away down here is worth the effort to get us there.