WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
I live in one of the most beautiful places in the US. A fact not lost on the 40,000+ visitors that are streaming through our town currently. Despite a pandemic raging through most of our country, tourism in our small town has not slowed down; great for businesses' bank accounts not great for their employees who are inevitably being exposed to the virus, causing businesses to repeatedly open and close.
Today's Gospel leads me to reflect on this situation. I feel a little like Martha, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." (Luke 10:40) Lord, don't you care about the visitors overwhelming our home? Why aren't they more cautious? I can imagine His response: Don't you know me better than this? Sarah, Sarah, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.
He'd be right; I am anxious and worried about many things. But I do know our Lord better than that. I know the things I am anxious and worried about are under His divine control. Someone once, at a Catholic youth conference, talked about giving your worries to God. I come back to this analogy a lot. They said to think of your worry as tangible; if you give it to someone, you can't still have it. It's brilliant, really. If I give my worry to God, then I can't hold on to that worry because I don't have it anymore.
We all have times when we will be Martha, times when it is necessary to be Martha, but it is far better to be Mary. To sit at the feet of our Lord and listen. Just the idea of sitting with our Lord and listening to Him fills my heart with such joy. I can imagine us enjoying a cup of coffee and discussing my worries as He reassures me as my father would.
May our Lord instill us with the grace to respond to Him in faith, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." (John 11:27) Help us to know and to trust in you, Lord. Amen.
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