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Today we are afforded the opportunity to sit back like Mary did and listen to the Lord speak. We hear the Lord speak to Abraham, assuring him that his wife, Sarah, will finally bear a son. We hear the Lord speak to Martha and Mary, assuring them of the importance of listening and learning. We hear the Lord speak, as we do each Sunday, in the breaking of the bread. Let us listen and hear what the Lord says to us.​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I love this conversation between Jesus and his friends (two sisters and their brother Lazarus) in the village of Bethany. While he was friendly with all of them, it is hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for Martha. It was her house after all, and she would naturally want to show it at its best. Her problem, as with over-anxious people in general, was that she saw only one right way to do things, and became annoyed when others followed a different course. What she does not see is that the best kind of welcome is when we forget ourselves and focus on what our visitor really needs. Martha loved Jesus too, and it is clear that he treasured them both. Her mistake was in not realizing how Jesus wished to be received. Her sister correctly sensed that when Jesus came to visit them on his way to Jerusalem, what he wanted from them was not food but conversation. So, while Martha made the greater effort at housekeeping, Mary knew better what he expected of her. Her contemplative intuition grasped instinctively the main reason for Jesus’ visit. He was there not to receive but to give, not to be served but to serve. He had something to say and they needed to listen to him. This encounter suggests a theology of contemplation, how to receive the Lord’s visit. It starts from the basis that whoever our visitors may be, there is always something to be learned from them. The one who comes knocking on our door will have something to tell us, should be listened to and understood. After a frustrating debate with scribes and Pharisees, Jesus came to visit his friends, for peace and calm. He comes to talk to us in the quiet of the evening or the freshness of the morning, to share with us the Word of life. He comes not because he needs us but because we need him. We too can be distracted and “worry and fret about so many things.” We may, like Martha, miss the better part, the one thing necessary, which is to listen to the Word of Christ. The world is made up of Marthas and Marys – doers and dreamers – and the former are much more numerous than the latter. The commercial society of today places a huge premium on achievement. It is tangible results that count. Production and sales targets are set for and only those who meet them are rewarded. Captains of industry insist that pay be related to production: “shape up or ship out.” And those who can’t or won’t are made redundant. That is, in a sense, Martha’s world. Mercifully, we still have our dreamers. And like Jesus, we should cherish such dreamers for the contribution they bring to our lives. Who are the Marys our church today? Not all of them live in cloisters, though some still do, quietly worshipping on behalf of us all. Some live a busy life at work and as home-makers, but find time in their hearts for prayer and for going to church. Others work creatively in their writing rooms or studios, patiently building their dreams of a better world for future generations. It is the poets, painters, writers, philosophers and mystics, who like Mary, have chosen the better part.​​​​​​​

Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”​​​​​​​​