for July 29
Memorial of Saint Martha

Today is the Memorial of St. Martha. I wonder how many people think of Martha as a saint. In today’s well-known Gospel passage, it seems like her sister Mary is the saintly one as she sits calmly and attentively at Jesus’s feet while Martha is frazzled and resentful as she is working to provide for the material needs of the people who have come to hear Jesus speak. Indeed, Martha and Mary have often been considered to be symbols of the active and the contemplative life. Seen in that light, Jesus himself appears to favor contemplation over action: “Mary has chosen the better part.” And that has had consequences for understanding what constitutes a life of holiness.

Is Jesus in fact saying that listening to his teaching is better than serving others? I don’t think so. Hospitality was (and is) an important virtue in Judaism, and Jesus himself availed himself of it in many homes. Martha was performing a virtuous act. Jesus does not deny that. But as usual he sees through the action to the heart of the person performing it, and that is what he addresses. In answer to Martha’s question—“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?”—he replies, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried [another translation has “worried and distracted”] about many things. There is need of only one thing.” Martha has been focusing on the many details of her work and has lost the sense of service—service to the guests which enacts her relationship with God. Mary, on the other hand, is focused on Jesus’s teaching knowing that it is strengthening her relationship with God. Her action is rooted in her awareness that this is the right response for her at this moment. The one thing of which there is need is the root from which everything else grows and that is the wisdom, which is known in both the mind and the heart, to know what is right for you in a given moment. Each of us has to listen to God’s movement within us and make our own choices. Martha seems to be a woman of action and probably made the right choice, but because she was not aware of the source of her choice, she became overwhelmed by everything it entailed. Worse, she felt alone and let down by Jesus and so became resentful both of her sister for not helping her and of Jesus for not standing up for her.

Jeremiah in the first reading is in the same situation, although, as usual with Jeremiah, the intensity of his experience is considerably greater. He too finds himself alone with his indignation. He has been doing God’s work, proclaiming to the people how they have gone astray, what they must do to repent, what will happen if they don’t, and not only do the people not repent, they revile him and even cause him physical harm. He feels God has betrayed him and poignantly cries out (in another translation): “Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart . . . [Now] you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.”

God reassures Jeremiah, telling him, “Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail.”  Why? “For I am with you to deliver and rescue you.” The psalm too expresses the author’s trust in God’s support. God is a refuge that can be trusted. It is a refuge within our hearts that will not fail no matter what the world does to us. In these passages, we see Martha and Jeremiah struggling to find their refuge. Mary undoubtedly struggled too, as we all do, although here she is resting in it. The refuge is the one thing needed—a relationship of loving trust in God and openness to his guiding wisdom. A life of holiness is one that seeks to enter into and live out of this relationship. It can be found in action or in contemplation. The better part is the one that best fits each one of us. It’s not a one-size-fits-all. God is generous and expansive and respects our individuality even as he guides us to find our place in the Communion of Saints.
—Christine Szczepanowski

The readings can be found on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website.