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.”– Luke 10:40-42
Who of us can’t relate to St. Martha in some way? There are things to be done, right!? By the way, don’t forget that even though Jesus rebuked her in this story (Luke 10:38-42), she is a saint! My inner “Martha” can sometimes find it difficult to stop and sit at the Lord’s feet in prayer like Mary did. It has taken many years of practice to train myself to “choose the better part” and nurture my prayer life, but even with concerted effort, I strive to keep my inner Martha at bay.
You know her: she is faithful and strong, but can be worried by little things that block her from stopping to just be with the Lord. She can feel stressed. Burdened with tasks. Loaded with responsibilities. She can feel so tired at times, but she just keeps going. She might be on the verge of burnout. Do you have an inner Martha?
If you struggle with your own inner Martha, maybe you’ve read this line before with Jesus sounding harsh: “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” (Luke 10:42). If so, try hearing it a new way. Replace her name with yours in the passage and instead of hearing Jesus speaking harshly, try to hear the gentle voice of the Good Shepherd calling you to something higher. Does your name sound different when He repeats it? Perhaps He is trying to calm your frazzled, rushing spirit? Prayerfully read it again and listen for Jesus speaking to you. Go ahead, I’ll wait. 🙂
I love when I hear the Good Shepherd’s voice calming me, reassuring me, calling me to be a better version of myself. I hope you had that experience of His voice, too. Something I’ve found is that my time imitating Mary in this story, just sitting in the position of a disciple and listening to the Lord, is never a waste. In fact, the time spent in contemplation (silent prayer) gives direction, meaning, and focus to the time I spend “doing.”
Most of us likely need a good balance of both Mary and Martha. We don’t all have the luxury of spending all our time in prayer. But we also can’t neglect our prayer life for the sake of being productive. Time in prayer helps our time of productivity become fruitful, which is different from being productive. (More on that here! The Thorny Soil & Feeling Burned Out?)
An idea for you to live out this Gospel this week: consider taking stock of where your balance between Mary and Martha is at. Are you seeking to accomplish “many things” without first practicing the “one thing,” the “better part” of silent prayer? Are you conflating productivity with fruitfulness? Does that leave you “anxious and worried” about those many things and your productivity? If so, listen closely to the voice of the Good Shepherd, who can calm the anxiety of your heart and give you the “peace that the world cannot give” (John 14:27).
If you don’t already have a dedicated time and space for silent prayer, try out giving yourself the gift of 10-15 minutes of silent prayer as part of your morning routine to “live in the presence of the Lord” (Responsorial Psalm 15:1). Listen to hear Jesus calling you out by name. Hear Him comfort you in any anxiety or fear, then allow Him to point you to do His will. Let your contemplation (silent prayer) be the fuel for carrying out the mission He has given you.
Lord, help me to focus on doing Your holy will and becoming fruitful. Please give me the time I need to spend time in prayer and accomplish what You have asked of me each day.
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