St. Martha

Today is the feast of St. Martha, a woman who gives me great hope. Mothering a family is not an easy task, mothering a large family is not for the faint-hearted, in fact mothering any kind of family is not for the faint hearted! But what a vocation it is! Raising the next generation for Christ often takes all our strength and saps us of our energy. In Martha we see a reflection of ourselves. It is very easy to become distracted and worried by the "cares" of this world. We hustle and bustle around, chasing after children, often trying to hold down a job while putting food on the table and tending  to our husbands needs and anyone else's who should come knocking at our door.

Martha and Mary were sisters, they lived in Bethany, on the outskirts of Jerusalem with their brother Lazarus. Martha had in her heart the desire to prepare a meal for their dear friend. But she was frustrated by her sister Mary who lounged about sitting at Jesus' feet. I often wonder if Martha would probably like to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to what he had to say too but she wasn't given the opportunity, there was work to be done if anyone was to eat that night. Someone had to do it and the onus fell on her. I can resonate with that, the times we have guests to stay and I find myself in the kitchen while everyone else is laughing and talking in another room can really get me into a pity party mentality. 

Jesus loved this family, he was happy to spend time in their home. He knew he would get a warm reception and a good meal and he also knew someone had to prepare it. His gentle reprimand to Martha when she asked him if he thought her sisters failure to help her was a good thing was to remind Martha that Mary had chosen the "better part". We too mustn't become to overly concerned with the business of life. We must guard against unnecessary distractions  that can weigh us down and keep us hustling and bustling. Instead we should always keep our eyes on what is important, namely our relationship with Christ. 

So this feast day why not take five, stop what you are doing, read some scripture and spend some time just delighting in the fact that you are a child of God. You are loved, you are forgiven and you have a Father who utterly delights in you. When you have done that why not prepare something delicious for the family to eat!