The Weekly Reading of Sunday, July 21, 2013 includes this passage from 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.'”
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.'”
Jesus told Martha: “There is need of only one thing.” What “one thing” must we choose? Catholic Fundamentalism thinks it is this: “To love God with all our heart and mind and soul.”
We are also told we should “love our neighbor as ourself.”
In the passage, Mary was loving God. Martha was loving her neighbors by serving them. She was working hard, rearranging things. Mary was letting God rearrange thoughts in her mind. Martha didn’t like Mary just sitting around. “Jesus, make her stop loving God and make her help me love my neighbor.”
Martha wanted to get between Jesus and Mary. She was like early Protestant reformers, closing the cloisters and kicking out the praying holy men and women while stealing their property to benefit themselves in the name of public service. “Those people shouldn’t be wasting time praying and praising God by themselves. They should help me by doing things I think are useful! I want to be the boss and I want what they have.”
Jesus reminded the self-righteous old biddy, and us, of the proper priority. First, we are to love God. Then, we are to love our neighbor. This is an important lesson for Catholics. We show our love for God by obediently attending Mass and receiving His Body and Blood because He said “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.”
Protestants do not like the idea of us actually eating His Body, drinking His Blood, and having life in us. It makes us uppity. Control freaks hate that! So, their schisms are always trying to get between us and Him.
Those of us, like Mary, who want to be close to God can be no closer to Him than by eating His Body and drinking His Blood. We can let the modern Marthas worry about lesser things.
