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<\/p>\nThe Lord said to her: \u201cMartha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
\nThere is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I am not trying to find theological underpinnings of the story of Martha and Mary and Jesus. This has been done many times by the greatest theologians, popes and saints. All I can do is trace this story in my own life.
\nAs a very lazy teenager and at the same time an avid book reader, I always cherished those words of Jesus which obviously stated that Mary, the \u201clistener\u201d (thus theoretically, also a \u201dreader\u201d) of Jesus\u2019 words \u201chas chosen the better part\u201d.\u00a0 Martha, the busy, hard working woman obviously chose the worse, the lesser part. Conclusion?\u00a0 On the scale of divine approval the washing up, cooking, cleaning etc. are significantly lower than any kind of intellectual pursuit.
\nAnd thus my pride of intellect and tendency to keep my surroundings in state of disarray grew unchecked. Nothing like misreading and misinterpreting the words of Jesus..
\nGod is very patient, though.. so years were passing, and beside embracing a sort of intellectual career I became, first and foremost,\u00a0 a wife and then a mother of two lively boys. New duties came along with the delights of motherhood. The despised cooking and baking, washing and endless sorting out of tiny socks, shirts and other stuff caught up with me. We were young and made friends \u2013 therefore we entertained quite a bit, too. I was learning practical aspects of hospitality and finding it difficult.
\nDuring those decades Martha become my friend. Poor Martha! I could imagine what she felt when Jesus and his disciples walked into their house. Such an important guest! such privilege! Quickly, water for dusty, tired feet. Extra seats must be arranged, soon warm bread and some other food must be placed on the tablen and where is the best wine we have? I cannot find it..,\u00a0 Jesus is speaking\u2026 but all I can think is that the floor has not been swept properly, dust is plainly visible under the table\u2026 what a shame\u2026 Jesus is speaking some more\u2026 but I cannot really hear what He is saying because my thoughts revolve around all those small matters \u2013 great for me. Comfort of my guests is at stake. My performance as a hostess is at stake.\u00a0 My reputation is at stake.
\nI am not saying that Martha really was thinking along these lines. I know that I would have if I were in her place at this time of my life when I was very busy and often unable to distinguish between truly important things and things that matter less.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Maybe Martha was overburdened with running the household\u2026 maybe the responsibility\u00a0 was too much for her. It was her who \u201cwelcomed Jesus\u201d so she must have been the true head of the household – very much like\u00a0 Abraham meeting the Lord by the terebinth of Mamre.
\nFor Mary, the less important of the two, being a good hostess was far less important than the words of Jesus. At her stage of life she was craving Love more than anything and the sheer strength of this desire allowed her to make the right choice. She simply sat at the feet of God and listened\u2026 she adored Him in the most direct way possible. She was happy with Him and needed nothing else.
\nMost of us seem to go through both the \u201cMartha stage\u201d and \u201cMary stage\u201d. Action and contemplation. Both important and complementary. There is a catch to the \u201caction stage\u201d, however, as gentle reproach of Jesus seems to suggest \u2013 it can become too overwhelming\u00a0 to the point that it may exclude God.<\/p>\n
Maria Kozakiewicz<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Lord said to her: \u201cMartha, 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.\u201d I am not trying to find theological underpinnings of the story of Martha and Mary and Jesus. This has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n