The Bible verse above has bothered me for a long time. It felt like the Lord was favoring contemplation over active service. Yet, in the history of the Church and its saints, many popular contemplatives were pretty busy people. St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, for example. Conversely, St. Teresa of Calcutta, who was an active nun rather than a contemplative, would pray for more than an hour every day. 

What I found is that it’s neither one or the other—it’s both. What God wants, the better part that He speaks of, is to be single-minded and focused on whatever activity we have at the moment—all for the Lord. So if you’re busy taking care of your children, that’s the better part when you do it wholeheartedly. And if you visit the adoration chapel to spend time with God, that, too, is the better part if you’re fully there. 

The Lord is not far from us. He is with us. He is fully there with us in every moment of our every day, be it in action or in contemplation. Joyce Roa (jsosoban@gmail.com)

Reflect:

Do you prefer action or contemplation? How can you integrate one with the other?

Dear Lord, thank You for making me realize that You are with me in action and in contemplation. Help me to be with You all the time too.

Saint Benedicta, pray for us.

Paul wants the Galatians to see that the Gospel demands us to change our lives from a life of sin to a life of grace and holiness. Look at the change the Gospel has brought to Paul's life and you will be convinced that it has the power to change yours. We should be inspired by how the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of the saints. There is still hope for us. God has the power to make us holy and useful for His Kingdom. 

¹³ Brothers and sisters: You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, ¹⁴ and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions. ¹⁵ But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus. ¹⁸ Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I did not see any other of the Apostles, only James the brother of the Lord. ²⁰ (As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.) ²¹ Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; ²³ they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ So they glorified God because of me.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14, 14-15

R: Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

¹ O Lord, you have probed me and you know me; ² you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. ³ My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. (R) ¹³ Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. (R) My soul also you knew full well; ¹⁵ nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret, when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth. (R)

Gospel | Luke 10:38-42 

Jesus wants us to have a good balance between prayer and service. Neither of these two should exist without the other. They may take on very different forms at different times, but they should always be there. Without this balance, we will be ineffective for the Gospel. Service without prayer doesn't have God’s power behind it, and prayer without service can lead to hypocrisy. 

Gospel Acclamation 

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.

³⁸ Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. ⁴⁰ Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. ⁴² There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Reflect:

How do you strike a balance between being like Martha and Mary?

Read the Bible in one year! Read EZEKIEL 1 - 4 today.

I find it challenging to have guests around for celebrations. Aside from being busy with the food, physical arrangement, getting the drinks, etc., I also want to mingle with the guests. I usually end up exhausted and not having eaten anything. The challenge is how to be hospitable and be attentive to the guests at the same time. This can really be tricky. Nevertheless, the guests are more important than anything else.

Most of us are familiar with this Gospel story about Mary and Martha. On many occasions, we must have read and reflected upon this Gospel passage. I bet, many of us have identified ourselves with Martha. They are the people who can multitask. They seem to be tireless. They make sure that everything is taken care of. We must have reasoned out that someone has to do the concrete tasks of hospitality. In contrast, we find Mary doing nothing. Martha’s complaint to Jesus seems to portray Mary as idling and even selfish. Martha must have been somewhat surprised when Jesus said that Mary had “chosen the better part” which would “not be taken from her.” How can Mary have chosen the better part when she seemed to be doing nothing? But was Mary really just sitting at the feet of Jesus doing nothing? No, she also had an active role to play. She sat at the feet of Jesus listening carefully to every word He said. This was an important role as well.

We are told that she was “listening to Jesus speak.” Listening to Jesus’ message is an important task of His disciple (a learner). This is what He often tells His disciples and the crowd to do—to listen at all times. Mary was present. She was in the moment. She was engaged. In this context, listening goes beyond simply hearing, but rather, it involves understanding, accepting, and assimilating the message so that it becomes part of oneself.

Mary has chosen the better part because listening is essential to doing the will of God in our lives. If we do not spend time listening to God, how can we know that our endeavours are properly directed? Fr. Rick Montañez, AA

Reflection Question:

Are we too busy with our service that we have no time to listen to the Lord? 

Jesus, when I’m too busy running around to serve You, still my heart so I can hear You. Amen. 

Today, I pray for: ____________________________