The Better Part

Step #1: Lectio / Read

Luke 10:38-42

​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.”

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Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

I have always been horrible at anything involving sports. When I was a sophomore in high school, I tried out for the softball team at my small private school. I was so bad that when the coach realized he wouldn’t have enough players to make a team unless he let me on, he decided they wouldn’t have a team that year (not that I blame him, I didn’t even know that a softball was different from a baseball until the try-outs). 

Despite my inability to accomplish anything athletic, I spent years of my life attempting to master a myriad of different sports, all without success; but I never gave up. Not because I enjoyed playing sports, not because all of my friends were doing it, but because, to put it simply, I knew my dad loved sports and I wanted my dad to love me.

This all changed when one day, after a particularly rough game of basketball, my dad pulled me aside, looked me in the eye and said, “my love for you is not at all dependent on whether or not you’re good at basketball, or any other sport for that matter.” For me, these words changed everything because, for the first time in my life, I realized that my dad loved me because of who I was and not because of anything I could or couldn’t do.

In the Gospel reading today, we are introduced to two sisters, Martha and Mary. Both are faithful and loving disciples of the Lord, but while Martha spent her time doing things to please the Lord and earn his love, Mary was content to just be with Christ, to let him love her exactly as she was. This is not to say that serving the Lord or serving him through others is bad, but acts of service become hollow if they do not come from a place of love. Thus, the Lord declared that Mary chose "the better part," which is to be with Christ, to spend time with him and encounter his limitless love, the same love that our Lord freely and completely offers to every one of us. 

It can sometimes be a difficult truth to grasp, but just as our Lord longed to spend time with Martha who was too busy serving to sit with him, so too Christ longs to spend time with each of us in the midst of our daily lives. Thus, we must ask ourselves: do we make spending time with our Lord a priority? How can we change our daily lives to be more like Mary?

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Step #3: Oratio / Pray

"There is need of only one thing. 
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”

Who do you most relate to from the Gospel reading and why?

Is it hard for you to believe that the Lord loves you exactly as you are and that there is nothing you need to do to earn this love? Why or why not?

Do you spend more time doing things for the Lord than you do just being with the Lord in prayer? What is one practical way you can commit to spending more personal time with the Lord today?

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Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

I want to love you more than I want to use you.

I do not love you because of what you do, I love you because of who you are.

There is need for only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.

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For the Rest Of Your Day...

Take five minutes of silence with then Lord today. Ask him, simply, to reveal his love to you.

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Today's prayer was prepared by Lauren Wright,
​Youth Minister and Adore Missionary in the Diocese of Rockford.