Being Both Mary and Martha” and "Good as the Enemy of the Best"

We learned that evil is the enemy of good.  In our lives, humans as we are, we have this constant struggle of choosing between good and bad…but, we may not realize it – there is another area –in which we struggle much more often than we realize… and which keeps most of us from becoming the person God wants us to be.

 It is not so much the struggle between being good and being bad, not so much choosing between good and evil.  We are also often challenged or faced with a conflict of choosing between two good options.  In such cases – we can say that the good becomes the enemy of the best…when we settle for less – when we settle for just “being nice” and just “being good enough” - instead of being the best we are called or meant to be and do.

Here’s a story to help explain the point:

A guard in charge of a lighthouse along a dangerous coast was given enough oil for one month and he was told to keep the light burning every night.

One day a woman asked for oil so that her children could stay warm. Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so he could read. Another needed some for an engine. The guard saw each as a worthy request and gave some oil to satisfy all of them. By the end of the month, the oil tank in the lighthouse was dry. That night - the beacon was dark and so, consequently -  three ships crashed on the rocks. More than one hundred lives were lost.

The lighthouse guard explained what he had done and why. But the prosecutor replied, “You were given only one task: to keep the light burning. Every other thing was secondary. You have no excuse.”

Again, we are also often faced with this challenge… At times - we must say no to a good thing in order to say yes to the one thing necessary… Of course, admittedly, this is much much easier said than done…  So, how can we discern and know what to do?

In the Gospel, the Lord told Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part” - meaning – it is our relationship with the Lord that must come first…

Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” … because if we put God first, that puts everything else in perspective and in their right place in our lives.

Otherwise, even if what we do can be considered good compassionate charitable Christian acts, but if it is not God’s will for us - if we are not in fellowship with the Lord, then we can do more harm than good…like in the story of the lighthouse guard… because what we might be doing could be only according to our own personal agenda and self-satisfaction… so that we feel good… but not according to God’s will… and therefore, it is still self-serving.

If we are not in communion with the Lord, we could be relying only on our own logic and perception and understanding of things.  True wisdom, as the number one gift :of the Holy Spirit is seeing things, people, situations, seeing ourselves, seeing reality as God sees them. So, pray for wisdom every day.

Our work, ministry, our lives must be grounded or rooted on our relationship with the Lord.  Without our relationship with God – as great as our service can be - our service is meaningless….

Jesus knew who he was. He knew whose He was. He was clear about the meaning and purpose of His life.   He calls us to the same beautiful simple life.

Unfortunately, for many people – that is not the case and so they have problems with their priorities… and focus in life…losing sight or not realizing  what life is really all about.

The point of the Gospel story of Mary and Martha is to challenge our priorities so that we come to see that fellowship with the Lord, being with the Lord, listening to the Lord and hearing His word - should always come first before we do the work for the Lord.

Martha was a good person.  What she was doing was good… The point of the story is - not so much to invite us to choose between being a Martha or a Mary.  A true disciple needs to be both Mary and Martha.

It is reasonable to think that the reason why Jesus said Mary chose “the better part” – instead of saying that Mary chose the best part – is because – we can say - to be the best - is to be both Mary and Martha… combination, a blend of both Mary and Martha.

We need to be like Mary - more interested in knowing the Lord….spending time with the Lord…. Being involved with meditation and contemplation… spending time in prayer and studying and understanding our faith.

… But we need also to be like Martha diligently doing the work of the Lord, for the Lord… for the love of God.

But - Like Martha in the Gospel - we can become so anxious only with DOING - instead of BEING what God calls us to be. 

If you think about it - God does not really need our works; God wants our hearts – our love. Again - Who we are is more important than what we do.  Our goal in life is to build a character suitable or fit to be in heaven.

If we are not in communion with God and therefore if we fail to live in His grace and if we just trust and rely on our own efforts, if we rely just on our own understanding of reality… Christian life can become extremely frustrating and difficult… if we do not have the Spirit of Christ in us…

…and if we do not have Christ in us, we will find NO joy, no strength in serving or helping our families and others and therefore we will find ourselves burning out easily… which could lead us to resenting serving our families and others and people will notice our being “grouchy” and consequently affecting how we serve and therefore we could even turn people off or away from the Church, and even cause people to turn away from God.

If we really want to be of service to others, starting with our families - we need to have the love of Jesus in our hearts and the awareness of that love comes through prayer…

… through prayer, we open ourselves to God and through the action of the Holy Spirit, God takes up His dwelling in our hearts; thus, it becomes easier for us to serve others because - actually – it will be God working through us.

… and even if we find ourselves at the end of the day – physically tired and exhausted… we will be at peace.

On the other hand, it is not good also if we are like Mary only.  Sitting at the feet of Jesus is very well and good… but, if it is all we do in our relationship with Christ, it could also be a very lopsided Christianity.  It is all receiving and no giving… if we are only preoccupied with making ourselves spiritually pure….but in the meantime, the others are doing all the work.

If we use religion as an escape from life - it can also become one of the most selfish things in the world…

Today’s gospel invites us all - first - to be a Mary - who sits with devotion at the Lord’s feet listening to His word, discerning His will, and then - also to be a Martha diligently doing the work of the Lord, serving the Lord… rooted in our relationship with the Lord… for the love of God.

Our Eucharistic celebration is a perfect example.  The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Christian Life.  In our Eucharistic celebration – we enter into communion with God and with one another.  We sit and listen to the Word of God and then we receive the Body and Blood of Christ – we become what we receive – we become the Body of Christ – and so - at the end of the Mass – we are all sent out into the world in the peace of Christ - to love and serve the Lord in others… being other Christs in the world…. Glorifying the Lord by our lives.

Amen.

God bless…