Sunday, July 22, 2007

Martha and Mary

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
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.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“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.”
Luke 10:38-42

Prayer

Dear Father there are times when we all would have liked to have been Mary instead of Martha. Sitting at Jesus' feet instead of serving and cleaning up when guests are present. Maybe some of us have also done as Martha and complained because we were stuck doing the chores rather than sitting back and relaxing. But Jesus has given us something to ponder over, not to be anxious or worried. Mary chose the best part because she gave her all to Jesus. But we can too when we are like Martha, we can also choose to be as Mary and put ourselves in thought with Jesus as we do our daily chores. In this way we not only place ourselves as Mary has but we keep Jesus first in our thoughts as we do the work of the day, in this we do not become anxious but rather we are filled with peace. And in this it will not be taken away from us either. May we come to know you Jesus as Mary has and come to rest at your feet and learn to listen and be with you. Amen

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In reading your prayer, Marie, I'm touched by how much we are both Martha and Mary. It is the Martha in us who welcomes Jesus and the Mary in us who stays with Jesus.

May I share with you an online retreat - The Better Part: Family and Friendship Relationships with Martha and Mary @ http://www.trinityshawls.com/knit-to-pray/

Blessings, Suzanne

Bernice said...

Thank you Suzanne for your kind words and for sharing with us an online retreat, which I'm sure many of us could use. I look forward to visiting and partaking of an online retreat too.

God Bless