Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her
Three siblings: Martha, Mary and Lazarus, related to Jesus by deep friendship and love. Martha's house in Bethany was the home of Jesus. In this house, Jesus often stayed, visited, and found peace and strength. He felt like in a family.
Today in Bethany there is a modern sanctuary which is simply called "home". There is a mosaic in the sanctuary depicting a legend related to the birds of thorn shrubs. There are many versions of this legend. One of them says that when the mother incubates the chicks, the male cares for her all the time, gains food and makes her time more pleasant by singing. When the young hatch, the male sings the most beautiful song of his life, then pierces his heart in the thorn bushes and dies.
This legend talks about Jesus who, like a bird of thorn bushes, cares for every person. And finally, out of love for man, he allows his heart to be pierced. But it is also a legend about us. About our toil in life, suffering and love. What is most beautiful and precious is born in pain and suffering. There is no love without suffering. True love is piercing heart and giving it for others. "Self-piercing" is always painful and leaves a wound. But without this wound, without this suffering, there is no love. There is selfishness.
St. Luke in the Gospel of two sisters, wants to show us two different ways of serving Jesus, two different shades of love. Both sisters - disciples of Jesus serve the Master. Each of them wants to receive him and entertain him in their own way. Mary serves through listening and contemplation. She sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to his words. Assumes the attitude of a disciple whose most important task, concern, is to obey the Master. He gives Jesus a loving, understanding heart. Martha, in turn, undertakes various ministries, a diaconia. Marta gives and cares about material needs. However, it is not focused, like Mary, on reception. And the result is nervousness, anxiety, internal breakdown.
Martha's attitude can be compared to a rich man who gives without taking anything. Mary takes the opposite attitude: she behaves like a poor person who accepts. In life, these attitudes cannot be isolated or separated. You cannot just give without noticing your own needs. You also cannot just take without giving anything in return. The first attitude can lead to internal burnout and emptiness, or to over-activism. The second is the straight path to selfishness.
Love always implies exchange, mutual communion, mutual giving. However, it must include listening to the loved one: God, other people, oneself. Otherwise, you risk manipulating the other. Love without freedom is enslavement. The "synthesis" of the two sisters is Mary. Mary combines the spirit of contemplation, prayer, listening to God and man with every day, toil and work.
But Jesus said: Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.
Contemplation is man's falling in love with God. The Lord Jesus, who said that Mary chose the best part, knew well what he was talking about. After all, he went through his human life in love with his Father. "My food is to do the will of him who sent me ... let the world know that I love the Father and that I do as the Father commanded me." Jesus' love for his Eternal Father was also expressed in the fact that he often spent whole nights in prayer.
It is remarkable and completely undeserved that a God who loves us wants to be loved by us. He wants us to give ourselves to Him in love. "Man - to recall the well-known formula of the last Council - is the only creature on this earth that God wanted for himself; therefore, he cannot fully find himself except through the sincere gift of himself."
Mary chose the best part because she sat down at the feet of Him who is Love itself and absorbed His Divine Presence and Wisdom. Well, it is worth realizing that all the baptized are called to imitate Mary. As long as we remain in sanctifying grace, if the word of God illuminates our paths in life, and if we strive to devote ourselves to God and entrust to Him every day, then "God's love is poured into our hearts" - and even if we live a very active life, we carry in our hearts a seed of the gift of contemplation, the gift of falling in love with God.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george