A Lesson About Being a Mary or a Martha

Jesus, Mary and Martha

Picture source

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."

Luke: 10:38-42 Source

Father S. gave a homily on the above Gospel reading. Martha was very excited about Jesus coming over for dinner. She went in a frenzy of preparation to make sure that the meal would be perfect for their special guest. Even after Jesus arrived, she was still busy trying to make sure everything was perfectly prepared. Her sister, on the other hand listened to their very special guest. She gave him her undivided attention. 

Father S. brought it closer to home when he asked if perhaps we housewives and homemakers do the same thing when we invite priests over for dinner.  Are we so busy preparing the meal, that we ignore our invited guest? Do we leave the priest alone while we are busy in the kitchen?  Do we instead rely on our family members...husband and children...to keep the priest company? Father went on to say that a priest can have a meal anywhere. It really wasn't the meal that brought him to our home. It was the company. It was a chance to talk with all the members of the family or household.  Father then finished this painful homily by saying that it may have been the only time our visitor came over to our home....and I was thinking to myself...and we blew it!