Only One Thing

Reflections on busybodies, contemplatives, and the one thing that is truly necessary based on today's readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072025.cfm

We have heard the story of Martha anxiously bustling around while Mary sits at the feet of Our Lord so many times that we can fail to realize how radical Christ’s words in this scene are.

We must first realize that a major problem for Martha is not just that she is too busy to spend time with the Lord, but that she fancies this busyness as a virtue. When she approaches the Lord, she is asking Him if He is not upset with Mary for failing to help her.

The Lord responds to her with the obvious observation that she is anxious and worried about many things. It is the nature of anxiety that it is invisible to the one who is anxious. This is often why it is so difficult to cure.

It is often the case that someone who is frantically rushing about from thing to thing, never remaining present but always worried about the next thing, does not view themselves as anxious but views this anxiety as a sign of responsibility. It is evidence that they get stuff done!

In fact, many of the anxious, busybody types (Martha) are quick to condemn the contemplative, peaceful types (Mary) as being lazy or selfish, just as Martha does in this scene. The first step towards helping a Martha (we probably all have a little Martha in us!) is realizing what it means to be a Martha.

This is why the Lord makes this obvious observation that she is anxious and worried. It is obvious to everyone who has ever read or heard this story, but it wasn’t obvious to Martha and that was the problem.

But the Lord does not only tell her that she is anxious and worried, He explains to her why she is anxious and worried and by doing so provides a way for her to overcome her anxiety. He does not simply notice that Martha is anxious and worried but that she is anxious and worried “about many things.”

In contrast to this, He states that “there is need of only one thing.” What a truly remarkable and radical statement!

The Lord is showing us that our anxiety has much to do with our confusion between wants and needs. There are many things we may want to do and many of them may be very good, but the only true necessity is that we remain close to the Lord.

Of course, if we remain close to the Lord, He will show us when and how to act, so that we move not according to the many different things we want, but only those that are in accord with His Will. In other words, far from being lazy and selfish, the contemplative peaceful types are the ones who are able to act most effectively and most truly for the sake of others, and above all, God.

The activity of Martha, because it is not first rooted in the one thing that is truly necessary, the contemplation of the Lord’s Will, becomes activity to satisfy one’s own ego. This is clearly shown when we see how the Lord reacts to her. He is gently reminding her that it is not Him she is serving, but herself.

And that is the fundamental distinction in all service. There is service that is performed for the sake of making one feel good about themselves and there is service performed for the sake of building His Kingdom and it is impossible to reflect upon which we have done in the past or be guided in the right direction in the future if we are not spending a significant amount of time contemplating the Lord.

Though there is a caricature of the contemplative, head-in-the-clouds type, who is distant from practical considerations, the lives of the saints show that the most contemplative men and women have been the most supremely practical because there considerations have been guided by what the Lord wants and they trust that He will bring about what He desires. It is those who fancy themselves practical, like Martha, who become most woefully impractical because they try to accomplish much without stopping to consider what they are doing or why, and rely on their own feeble strength to complete their task rather than the infinite power of the Lord.

This is also why the service of the saints, far from being a burden, becomes a source of supreme joy, and the service of the Martha types becomes a source of anxiety and eventual resentment. The contemplative (Mary) is destined to succeed because the Lord leads their way, the busybody (Martha) is doomed to failure because they lead themselves but know not where they lead.

We are all of course a little bit of Martha and a little bit of Mary. The point is not to condemn ourselves for being one or exalt ourselves for being the other, but to remind ourselves what it is that we seek and how we are to go about seeking it.

May the Lord guide all of our activity today and may all of our work retain a contemplative spirit.