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 10:41-42 NABRE
Jesus is journeying to Jerusalem and stops in a village where Martha welcomes Him. She has a sister, Mary who sits at Jesus’ feet as a disciple would do of their teacher in those times. Mary is focused on listening to His word. Martha sees there is much to do to be hospitable and is distracted by duty, she is not listening to Jesus. Martha is so distracted doing things she is concerned her sister is not assisting and speaks to Jesus to have her sister help. Rather, Jesus responds to Martha, saying her name twice as a sign of affection. He tells her she is anxious about many things. Jesus has previously taught being anxious weighs us down and keeps us from finding peace. Jesus does not want us to be anxious bringing worry and fear, in time these can be a major problem. Jesus opposes fear and worry, He tells us to trust Him and have peace. Jesus then tells Martha, Mary is doing what is necessary, she is prioritizing listening to Jesus, she is welcoming Jesus through her attentiveness. This is the better approach, it is a good portion. There are many portions we can take in life but listening to Jesus is the good portion. So Jesus has seen Mary as doing the right thing and is trying to tell Martha to be less anxious and worried.
How often do we host people and worry so much that everything is perfect that we are unable to be attentive to our guests? Jesus’ is telling us to choose the person over doing, and we will be more peaceful and our guests will feel loved.
Are you anxious? Are you attentive to those in front of you?
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