Luke 10: The good part

In the famous sisters Martha and Mary, we have a concrete illustration of two of the essential components of the life of a disciple of Christ: the active and the contemplative.

When Jesus visits their home, Martha springs into action and bustles about serving him. Mary simply sits at the Lord's feet and listens to him. Eventually Martha gets fed up and essentially chastises Jesus, telling him to tell Mary to get up off her butt and help out.

And he replies: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her" (10:41-42).

Now, Jesus is certainly not suggesting that serving others is "the bad part." He constantly urged the importance of being a servant. Indeed, his entire life was one of service to others, and we as Christians must imitate him.

But in this exchange, Jesus is telling us something exceedingly important about himself, about prayer and the spiritual life, and about our ultimate destiny. Mary sits at Jesus' feet like a child, gazes up at him lovingly, and listens to his words attentively. And this, Jesus says, is "the good part," even more important than active service.

For he is the Lord, and if we do not take time to sit quietly in his presence and listen for his voice, then all our bustling work in his name will be in vain. And ultimately, Mary's choice, which we emulate in contemplative prayer, is "the good part" because it is a foretaste of the beatific vision of heaven, when we will bask for all eternity in the perfect joy of God's presence.

(Image: Tintoretto, "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary," c. 1580)