There is an unmentioned 7th option and I believe the Lord would have blessed her generously for it as well. Martha could have done the *necessary* work without Mary’s help & offered her efforts in service to Our Lord as a beautiful sacrifice.

As a mother, I frequently have to struggle against my frustration & annoyance when my children distract or prevent me from hearing, etc. I have to plan my spiritual time carefully. While I believe Martha embraced the vocation of a religious, I don’t feel comfortable assuming that she necessarily had all those options available to her.

Conjecture can be edifying & I think this is – I just would have preferred if the author of this article had framed these possibilities as “Perhaps Martha could have” or “she might have been able to” rather than making it sound definitive that Martha could have done these things when we really don’t know.