Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Mary is the symbol of the contemplative life; Martha the active life. When we first meet the sisters in an earlier encounter, Mary is at Jesus’ feet listening to what he is saying; Martha is in the kitchen preparing dinner. She complains wanting Mary to come and help her. Jesus silences her, saying Mary has chosen the better part. So, contemplation is better than action?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus appears on the scene and Martha “went to meet him, but Mary sat at home.” And, there is the account that after his resurrection, Mary is the first person to meet Jesus and he tells her not to hold on to him, but to go and spread the news that he has risen. So, action is better than contemplation?
The answer is Jesus is the center of every life. If he is met in prayer, that is contemplation, action will follow. And if there is authentic action, it means it follows from contemplative prayer. Or better, the two – contemplation and action - are complementary: “You don’t have one without the other” and both have their origin in the presence to Jesus. We are called to be contemplatives in action, our apostolic actions come from meeting Jesus in quiet prayer.
Resolve: I shall ask the Holy Spirit to inspire me to offer a short prayer to Jesus before every different activity I undertake, beginning with waking up in the morning to closing my eyes and resting on the pillow at night.