“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:41-42).

Many deacons get to enjoy fuller and more in depth discussions regarding this reading than do priests, as many of us are married and the greater majority of priests are not. My wife JoAnn and I have had a few spirited exchanges on this Gospel each time it arises. One reason may be, is that from many women’s point of view, they see Jesus as not showing any empathy and regard for not only Martha’s gift of hospitality, but also all the work she is doing while all the men are sitting around listening to Jesus with Mary doing the same, and who is left to do all the work – Martha.

It is not only deacon’s wives who carry extra weight and burdens in support on the homefront to allow their husbands the time to serve, (Just the time it takes for me to write this daily post is less time I am spending with JoAnn or less time that I have to devote to the needs of our home) but many wives who are full time homemakers, run in home businesses, or carry a job outside the home, as well as caring for the children, overseeing the bills, the day to day grind, find themselves at times, rightly so, underappreciated, undervalued, and not respected for all they do. To all husbands reading this, WE definitely need to do a better job of being present, more patient, respectful and attentive to our wives and be more of an equal partner in our journey. God is to be first, then our vocation to marriage and family must come second, then work, then our vocation.

With that said, I do not believe that Jesus was dissing Martha. Especially, in the Gospel of Luke, there are so many instances in which Jesus empowers women so far beyond the cultural reality of the time period. We read this account from our twenty first century mind set. Contextually, the men sitting at the teacher’s feet in a different room, the women cooking and most times eating in another was commonplace for those in the first century AD. The only person out of step was Mary.

Another possible consideration, the root of Martha’s anxiety may not have so much been that she wasn’t helping in the kitchen, but because she was breaking a social construct of sitting with the men. Jesus addresses her from the perspective that Martha is anxious about many things and that Mary has chosen the better part. I can visualize Martha being taken aback at first, but slowly seeing the muscles in her face relax, and then taking her apron and throwing it off to the side and then sitting down next to Mary. Before you think I have watched one too many Hallmark movies, there is consistent evidence that beyond the Twelve, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were Jesus’ closest friends.

When Jesus came four days after the death of Lazarus, it was Martha who came out to Jesus, not Mary, and in that exchange made the claim that he was the Messiah, the Son of God (cf Jn 11:27). She would not have had this insight, the same as Peter, who Jesus said only knew this through the intervention of the Holy Spirit, if she was still holding a grudge over the dinner. Also, Jesus who had compassion on the 5,000 and fed them with a few loaves and fish, who washed his disciples feet at the last supper, would he not step up to assist with the meal, the clean up, would he leave Martha hanging? We don’t know.

The reaction and push back from this scene is not so much a reflection of Jesus, but how poorly we have emulated Jesus in our interactions with our wives. When women are told to honor their husbands, that is only the half of it. Men are also told to honor their wives as Jesus does the Church. Women are to be respected and appreciated not exploited, demeaned, and devalued.

And let us not forget the vocation of single women who were instrumental in the beginnings of the Church and continue to be so today! By all accounts, I believe Martha and Mary were single women. They were close friends with Jesus, that is no small thing. The gift of the Church, and when we are at our best, is when we recognize the gifts, contributions, and value of each of our members. When we embrace the diversity in our midst and empower one another.

Let us meditate on this image today, Jesus, Martha, and Mary, and the other disciples present, sitting in communion, learning how to be supportive and caring, and then living as contemplatives in action. When we are anxious about many things, let us not take out our anxiety on one another, but come and sit a Jesus’ feet, breathe slowly, let the anxiety dissipate, and then seek his guidance, and begin again. Let us be sure tell those we know that we love them. “Encourage one another while it is still today” (Hebrews 3:13).

Special prayers today for those individuals and families who are anxious about many things because they are: contemplating an abortion; homeless; in fear that one or more of their family members may be deported; sacrificing everyday their members who go off with the possibility of not coming home because they are serving in the military, as police officers, firefighters, or EMT’s; still recovering from the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the South East and the earthquakes in Mexico; and refugees throughout the world who would love to find themselves in this situation where they were arguing over having help in the kitchen, instead of wondering if they will live another day.

Mass Readings for the day:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101017.cfm

photo source:

http://www.soulshepherding.org/2012/06/prevent-burnout-be-a-mary-nated-martha/