Martha and Mary

Bethany is only two miles from Jerusalem. Jesus used to stay there when he came to the holy city, to find a peaceful place where he could rest and spend time with his friends. Beth means home, an appropriate name for a place where Jesus felt at ease. Jesus used to love to go to Bethany, to spend time with Martha, Mary and Lazarus. As a human being he needed friends. He loved his friends and tried to drop in and stay with them. We too are social beings, and we need friends, people who can support us and share things with us. A friend is a treasure. We need to look after them and give them time. We normally spread our faith to our friends. Christianity began and grew mainly through friendship.

Saint Josemaría used to call the tabernacle Bethany, where Jesus could find a place to rest in his wanderings among humans. We too need a tabernacle, where we can find a refuge, a place to leave our troubles alongside Jesus. Our heart also should be like Bethany, a place to spend time with Jesus, where we can offer him hospitality. We are waiting for him to come to visit us, whenever he wants to, always ready for his visit. Our feelings are always variable, but Jesus’ presence gives us stability.

Jesus is our friend. He will always be there, wherever we go. We move, we change, we go through different stages in life, but Jesus is always there if we let him be. He should be our best friend, not just one among many. We can ask ourselves, do we welcome Jesus into our humble abode, like in Bethany. What sort of friendship do we have with Jesus? I never forget the answer a girl gave me when I asked her if Jesus was her best friend: “father, Jesus is much more than my best friend.”

Martha was the eldest and when Jesus arrived she wanted to have everything ready for him. Jesus came with his apostles and there were lots of things to worry about. Mary the younger in the family was a bit of a dreamer. While Martha was taking care of the meal, setting the table, Mary was at Jesus’ feet, drinking in his words. Martha couldn’t follow what Jesus was saying, coming in and out of the kitchen. She could only pick up few phrases here and there. Slowly she became upset, looking at her sister doing nothing, and sending her some looks like darts, to see if she could give her a hand. It reached a moment when she exploded and instead of talking to her sister, she complained to Jesus: Could you tell my lazy sister to give me a hand, please? Jesus, smiling at her, reminded her not to get distracted with too many things, that there is only one important thing: Jesus. No matter what we do, Jesus has to have a central place in our lives.

Traditionally Martha is the icon of the active life and Mary the contemplative one. We distinguish them, we even oppose one to the other, but they should be together in our lives. We should be a bit of Martha and a bit of Mary. There was always a tension between both sisters, and it is a healthy tension, because one cannot take over the other. The balance is always difficult to achieve, but we need to try to reach what Saint Josemaría calls unity of life. We cannot be schizophrenics, to have a double life. We need to unite work and prayer, a material and spiritual life, the inside and the outside.

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