Saturday, July 21, 2007

One Thing Needful +

Luke 10:38-42

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.”

5 comments:

Athos said...

Music vids aside, one might honor this Sunday's Gospel. Bethany, the village in which the sisters Mary and Martha, and their brother, Lazarus, lived, is just over the Mount of Olives from the Kidron Valley which separates the walls of Jerusalem from the Garden of Gethsemane. To this day, you can enter the tomb of Lazarus (I hope and pray you may one day).

What is the "one thing needful" for you? Do you sit at Our Lord's feet, or do you enmesh yourself in competition, rivalry, and other funny business like sister Martha?

David Nybakke said...

One Thing Needful...and the push-pull between Martha and Mary characteristics -- I agree Athos, however Martha too often gets a bum deal. We must remember the 'drama' - Martha had Mary and Mary had Martha.

I like the following from the Capuchin Franciscan Friars on hermitage: This style of life reclaims part of the original inspiration of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) who made it his practice to spend half his time in solitude and prayer in a hermitage and half in preaching the gospel in the towns of Italy.

In his "Rule for the Hermitages," St. Francis identifies a hermit not as an isolated individual who prays alone but as a member of a fraternity of brothers who alternate between prayerful solitude and ministry to one another and to the world.

St. Francis uses the model of Martha and Mary from the Gospel of St. Luke in his description of the balance of prayer and ministry. (Lk 10:38-42)

Athos said...

St Francis' model is one for all of us to imitate, Aramis. Superb. And now I'm off to visit family. Cheers!

Leticia said...

What a beautiful image. Where is it from?

Athos said...

Hi Leticia, the image comes from the free clipart of 'Brother Leon' here:

http://cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon/

Enjoy and God bless