Mary, Martha, and "the better part"

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for July 21, 2013, the Sixteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Gen 18:1-10a
• Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 5
• Col 1:24-28
• Lk 10:38-42

Americans are, generally speaking, a
pragmatic and practical people. We know how to get things done, how
to organize, how to make a plan and put it into action. Work may be
“a rat race” and “a grind,” but we take satisfaction in
knowing we work hard, do a good job, and are productive members of
society.

But to what end?

By “end,” I mean
“ultimate end.” This question is pursued relentlessly and with
sometimes unsettling results in the little classic, Leisure: The
Basis of Culture (Ignatius Press, 2009), written in the 1950s by
the German philosopher, Josef Pieper. Western man overvalues work,
Pieper argued, and he has lost the meaning and importance of true
leisure, instead substituting shallow entertainment and empty
diversions. Leisure is essential to be whole, and the soul of leisure
is “divine worship” of the Creator. “Celebration of God in
worship,” writes Pieper, “cannot be done unless it is done for
its own sake.”

Hold that thought and cut away to the
dusty, first-century village of Bethany and the home of Martha and
Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. Jesus, having told his disciples of his
approaching suffering and death and having performed healings and
exorcisms (Lk. 9), was likely ready for a brief respite before
heading into Jerusalem, just two miles away. Martha was an exemplary
hostess. She believed, at the very least, that Jesus was a great
prophet, and she took pride in treating this friend and guest of
distinction to the finest care and food (note the clear parallels
with today’s reading from Genesis). And so Martha was busily
preparing and serving food, even while her sister, Mary, sat at the
feet of Jesus, listening to him speak.

What happened next was not an ordinary
part of Semitic culture and hospitality: Martha sought to draw Jesus
into the middle of a domestic disagreement. And she pulled out all of
the stops in doing so, employing the guilt trip (“Lord, do you not
care…”), playing the victim card (“that my sister has left by
myself…”), and employing the exasperated demand (“Tell her to
help me”). Things went from agreeable to awkward quickly!

I’ve heard the words of Jesus
interpreted sometimes as being a rebuke to Martha. But that is unfair
to Martha and it skews, or misses altogether, the essential point.
The Church Fathers are quite agreed on this point. St. Gregory the
Great, for example, wrote, “For what is set forth by Mary, who
sitting down gave ear to the words of our Lord, save the life of
contemplation? And what by Martha, so busied with outward services,
save the life of action? Now Martha's concern is not reproved, but
that of Mary is even commended.” He then arrived at this vital
conclusion: “For the merits of the active life are great, but of
the contemplative, far better.” Everything that Martha did was
good. Yet in pursuing good things, she overlooked the greatest good.

What was it? Mary, in sitting at Jesus’
feet, showed her submission to him. She literally “listened to his
word”; that is, she listened to the logos of the Logos.
She was completely and wholly present to the Incarnate Word; there
was no practical end to this being present, for it was simply an act
of love and worship. “To cling to God and to the things of God,”
wrote St. John Cassian, “this must be our major effort, this must
be the road that the heart follows unswervingly. Any diversion,
however impressive, must be regarded as secondary, low-grade and
certainly dangerous.” And St. Ambrose sums it up perfectly: “Do
not let service divert the knowledge of the heavenly Word.”

Mary, in choosing “the better part”
had made the right choice. She completely gave her attention and
herself to the Lord, fully aware of the Word of God present in flesh
and blood, and in spoken word. In so choosing, she gained what could
never be taken from her.

 (This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the July 18, 2010, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)