Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 July

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This weekend is Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of July, beginning the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time.

The Choir of Holy Sepulchre London sings, ‘Present Yourselves as a Living Sacrifice’.

The account of Mary and Martha from the Gospel of St Luke is one which will be well known to us. Martha prepares, physically, for the Lord’s arrival through household work.  But Mary, on the other hand, sits at Jesus’ feet and prepares herself to accept Jesus’ teachings attentively. Depending where we are on our spiritual journey we may identify more closely with Martha than Mary, and, on one level, we should not feel guilty about that because Jesus does not condemn Martha; instead, he points out that Mary has ‘chosen the better part.’ Martha’s way is not innately bad; instead, Mary’s way is better! Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

If we are inclined to be ‘Marthas’ in our faith lives; always busy and never sitting still to accept attentively the things of Christ what can we do to rectify this tendency?

For the next few minutes consciously slow yourself down; whilst at the same time fixing your internal gaze on Jesus.

As you listen again, hear the words of Jesus and think about the way he speaks to Martha. He doesn’t condemn or criticise or scold. Instead, he points out very gently that Mary’s way is better. When you are busy today and feel that the busy-ness is intruding upon your calm, think of Jesus gently calling you back to himself. When that happens you will have chosen the better part.

Were you able to truly relax into the Lord’s presence? Were there things which kept on intruding into that space and calm? Did you find yourself to be ‘worried and distracted’ like Martha in the Gospel If so, commend them to God; He may want you to think about them!