JESUS’ ADVENTURE in Bethany (cf. Lk 10:38-42) is sometimes understood as a dilemma between two ways of living a life of faith: either a person is like Martha, who devotes herself to the activities of this world, or like Mary, who concentrates on the things of God. However, we can also consider that both attitudes are necessary and complement each other: it is not necessary to give up ordinary jobs in order to be always with our Lord. St. Josemaría, repeating the teachings of the saints who accepted the religious life, wrote, “Jesus Christ must be sought in ordinary life – even among the pots and pans, as Mother Teresa said – in ordinary things. (…) God is there: among the books, among the laboratory equipment, at work in research or teaching; and he is also in the kitchen or among the cleaning tools or on the ironing board”.
When Martha complains to the Lord that her sister does not help in the household, Jesus answers her: “Martha, Martha, you worry and worry about many things, and only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen a better share, which will not be taken away from her” (Lk 10, 41-42). Christ does not call Martha to leave her own affairs. How else could He and the apostles eat and gain new strength? The master wants Marta not to forget the “better part”, what is “necessary”: to give glory to God and serve others with her work well done. Therefore, as the founder of Opus Dei wrote, “the time will come when it will be impossible for us to distinguish where prayer ends and work begins, because our work is also prayer, contemplation, and a true mystical life in union with God.”
Marta: when we are overwhelmed …
PROBABLY we have found ourselves in a situation like Marta’s more than once. For a short or long time, we may have the impression that we will not achieve everything we set out to do. Perhaps we have a family to take care of, work responsibilities, and many unforeseen events that inevitably occur every day and require extra time and special attention: our illness or that of a loved one, a phone call or meeting at the last minute, work that takes longer, a breakdown at home, the need to have a more extensive conversation with a friend or colleague, etc. Then we wish that this period of certain stress would disappear as soon as possible, and quite rightly we desire for peace to finally come.
Martha’s reaction can tell us how to accept these moments when they arise: turn to Jesus and lighten up before him. “Cast all your cares on him,” writes St. Peter, “for he cares for you” (1 Pt 5:7). At the same time, the Lord’s call to focus on what is “necessary” can help us discover the meaning of those activities that may rob us of peace. They are not just side activities or duties, but ways in which we become saints and contribute to the good of those around us. This shift in focus probably doesn’t mean fatigue will disappear overnight or that we’ll be able to juggle tasks exactly as time-management experts teach. Even if we approach this noble ideal, the fatigue experienced with Jesus has a valuable meaning, because our efforts are not aimed at getting rid of our duties as soon as possible, but take on an ambitious dimension: to identify with Christ, who lived focused on the things of his Father and with an open, generous heart devoted himself to those who came to him.
This attitude explains “why the holy apparitions are filled with peace even in the midst of pain, humiliation, poverty, and persecution. The answer, as Blessed Álvaro said, “is very clear: because they try to identify with the will of the heavenly Father and imitate Christ”. That is, what we may have previously perceived as a threat that changed our inner life, we perceive differently: as an opportunity to grow in the ideals that sustain our life.
Mary: a word that informs about life …
MARY listens carefully to the words of Jesus. The way of perceiving his preaching is completely different from that of some Pharisees or scribes who, when the Master spoke, looked for something to accuse him of. She, on the other hand, accepted his teachings with love and practicality: she not only enjoyed the beauty of speech but also tried to make it her own and apply it to her own life. “When you open the Holy Gospel,” Saint Josemaría would suggest, “think about the fact that everything you read there – about Christ’s words and deeds – you not only have to know, but also to live. Everything that is said there was given there bit by bit in order to adapt it to the specific conditions of your life”
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“Listening to God’s word means reading it and saying: What does it say to my heart? What does God say to me with these words? (…) God does not speak to everyone in general: yes, he speaks to everyone, but he speaks to each of us. The Gospel was written for each of us”[5]. In order to discover this personal meaning, God’s word must be leavened in us; that is, it is not enough to hear or read a passage once to understand its meaning, but it must take root in our hearts and minds. In this way, we can read the events that happen to us in the light of this word and perceive what the Lord wants to convey to us at every moment.
