Anne O’Brien, Deputy CEO: Mission, People & Culture, presents our Gospel Reflections this week and today reads from the Gospel of Luke (10: 38-42), in which Jesus, when visiting the home of Martha & Mary, tells Martha ‘you worry and fret about so many things and, yet, few are needed’.

Anne says, today we find Jesus in the home of the sisters, Mary and Martha. They lived in Bethany, a village about 3kms from Jerusalem and it seems that Jesus was a familiar visitor to the house and a friend.

Martha was a ‘doer’ to the point of being a fusspot. We are told Martha:

…was distracted by her many tasks…

Serving others is something Jesus himself did constantly, and he urged his followers to do the same. But it should not be a burden or distraction. And, after Martha had complained about her sister, Jesus told her:

…you are worried and distracted by many things…

A true servant does not experience anxiety and worry because that signifies a lack of peace.

Because Mary seemed to be doing nothing, Martha saw her as idling and even selfish.

Martha must have been somewhat surprised when Jesus said:

Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

What was that better part? Wasn’t Mary just sitting at the feet of Jesus and doing nothing? No! Listening to what he was saying is what she was doing.

Listening to his message is something Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd they need to be doing all the time. This listening involves understanding, accepting and assimilating that message so that it becomes part of our very selves.

If we do not spend time listening to Jesus, how can we know that our activity is properly directed? It is easy for us Christians to be very busy, but are we busy about the right things?

To answer that question, we must stop to listen, and discern and pray.

Taking the time to reflect on the gospels, which is what exactly we are doing today, is a very good way to start that listening Jesus is talking about.

Anne invites us to pray that we all continue to make this time together a priority and discern the messages in the daily gospels. I am sure that God is watching you now and feeling happy that we are following the example of Mary in this story.