From: Luke 10:38-42

Martha and Mary Welcome Our Lord

[38] Now as they went on their way, He (Jesus) entered a village; and a
woman named Martha received Him into her house. [39] And she had a
sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His
teaching. [40] But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she
went to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me
to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” [41] But the Lord answered
her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
[42] one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good position, which
shall not be taken away from her.”

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Commentary:

38-42. Our Lord was heading for Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) and His journey
took Him through Bethany, the village where Lazarus, Martha and Mary
lived—a family for whom He had a special affection, as we see in other
passages of the Gospel (cf. John 11:1-14; 12:1-9).

St. Augustine comments on this scene as follows: “Martha, who was
arranging and preparing the Lord’s meal, was busy doing many things,
whereas Mary preferred to find her meal in what the Lord was saying.
In a way she deserted her sister, who was very busy, and sat herself
down at Jesus’ feet and just listened to His words. She was faithfully
obeying what the Psalm said: `Be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm
46:10). Martha was getting annoyed, Mary was feasting; the former
coping with many things, the latter concentrating on one. Both
occupations were good” (”Sermon”, 103).

Martha has come to be, as it were, the symbol of the active life, and
Mary that of the contemplative life. However, for most Christians,
called as they are to sanctify themselves in the middle of the world,
action and contemplation cannot be regarded as two opposite ways of
practising the Christian faith: an active life forgetful of union with
God is useless and barren; but an apparent life of prayer which shows
no concern for apostolate and the sanctification of ordinary things
also fails to please God. The key lies in being able to combine these
two lives, without either harming the other. Close union between
action and contemplation can be achieved in very different ways,
depending on the specific vocation each person is given by God.

Far from being an obstacle, work should be a means and an occasion for
a close relationship with our Lord, which is the most important thing
in our life.

Following this teaching of the Lord, the ordinary Christian should
strive to attain an integrated life—an intense life of piety and
external activity, orientated towards God, practised out of love for
Him and with an upright intention, which expresses itself in
apostolate, in everyday work, in doing the duties of one’s state in
life. “You must understand now more clearly that God is calling you to
serve Him IN AND FROM the ordinary, material and secular activities of
human life. He waits for us every day, in the laboratory, in the
operating room, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in the
factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home and in all the
immense panorama of work. Understand this well: there is something
holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it
is up to each of you to discover it [...]. There is no other way.
Either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we
shall never find Him. That is why I can tell you that our age needs to
give back to matter and to the most trivial occurrences and situations
their noble and original meaning. It needs to restore them to the
service of the Kingdom of God, to spiritualize them, turning them into
a means and an occasion for a continuous meeting with Jesus Christ”
([St] J. Escriva, “Conversations”, 114).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Genesis 18:1 - 10 ©
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say’. Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree. ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son’. Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

First reading

Genesis 18:1 - 10 ©

The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say’.
Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.
‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son’. Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 14

Second reading	Colossians 1:24 - 28 ©
It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.

Second reading

It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.

Gospel	Luke 10:38 - 42 ©
In the course of their journey Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’

Gospel

In the course of their journey Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’