(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
Since He spoke her name twice was He being reproachful or chiding? Maybe He was being playful or simply sympathetic.
Perhaps we will never know the way He spoke to Martha; what we do know for certain is that despite the fact that Martha was preparing to feed the Lord, Mary chose “the better portion” because she chose to listen to the Lord’s teachings. Undoubtedly, Martha thought she was pleasing the Lord by attending to the details of the meal to the point of distress. She clearly felt that she needed the aid of her sister in serving the person she knew to be the Messiah, the Son of God. It would only seem natural that whether you are Martha of Bethany or Martha Stewart, when you are entertaining the Second Person of the blessed Trinity for dinner you are allowed to have a little anxiety. On the other hand, if our Lord were to walk into a home and begin to teach, wouldn’t the residents naturally listen attentively to everything He said and be too in awe of His sacred presence to do anything but listen, transfixed?
Historians tell us that in the time of Christ, only residents of Jerusalem were allowed to spend the night within its city walls. As our Lord would have needed a place to stay while visiting Jerusalem, it is very likely that He stayed in Bethany, which was, at the time, one of the closest villages to Jerusalem. His hosts in Bethany were His friends Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus, whom our Lord had risen from the grave. This little family of Bethany shows us that they were a family like any other; even in the presence of the Lord Himself we see sibling rivalry, criticism and marked contrast in personalities.
In the passage of Luke’s Gospel previous to the story of Martha and Mary is the famous tale of service and love of neighbor, the parable of the good Samaritan. Our Lord had high praise for the Samaritan because of his great kindness and compassion. Yet, our Lord indicated to the two sisters that there are some things more important than service to our neighbor; time with God in prayer, learning and contemplation is even more essential for His followers. It is only logical that He would first ask us to listen to Him and pray about His teaching, so that we can then put what we have learned into practice.
God grants us all a choice as to how we are to live our lives; we can give in to anxiety and frustration like Martha or we can seek out a “better portion” as Mary did. Everyday and every moment presents us with opportunities for prayers and reflection. When we choose, as Mary of Bethany did, to spend time with the Lord in prayer and contemplation, we, as well, choose the better part. After our Lord has nourished us with His presence and filled us with His teaching, then we are better prepared to serve and translate the Word we have received into action.
