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."
A little reminder. This may sound weird to you but sometimes I feel guilty for taking time out of my busy schedule to pray. Do you know what I mean?
In the morning, right after Mass, I try to spend a few minutes in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. While I am there I can feel my cellphone start to vibrate. Each vibration signifies that a text message has arrived. Sometimes it can be nonstop. The world is calling me and I compelled to get up and go.
There's no doubt about it: cell phones and personal computers are a blessing. They make it so easy for people to be contacted. But they are also a curse because they make it far too easy for us to contact people and expect an immediate response from them.
There is something about humans that compels us to respond immediately. I do not know what it is, but it is the only excuse I can think of for why we are driven to text and drive at the same time. We must have been wired to respond asap.
Today, the Lord is reminding me, as he reminded Martha, to never feel guilty for taking some time to pray.
Mary sat beside the Lord listening to him speak. If you think about it, while Mary was sitting next to the Lord, she was actually praying to Him. That's right! She was praying to God.
(1) She was in his presence. (2) She was engaged in dialogue with Him: she was listening and responding.
Mary was praying to Jesus and she was receiving the benefits from it. "Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."
Of course someone has to do all the work. Martha is not a "bad" person because she is preparing a meal and serving everyone. Of course not! But Martha is wrong when she insists on taking her sister away from her prayer time.
Are people taking your prayer time away? Don't let them!
Get out of here! You need a break. You need a break from this world. Take a break. Take some time out of your busy schedule to pray.
Prayer is exactly what the good doctor ordered. It is 100% natural. It allows us to get out of this world and take a break from it. Prayer time allows us to enter into God's sacred space and time and be in His presence. The Lord is not inviting you. He is waiting for you.
Martha assumed the Lord wanted to be served at that particular moment. But she was wrong, as we often are when we don't take the time to pray. We assume way too much!
Christ did not invite Mary or Martha to sit with Him. Mary took it upon herself to sit in His presence. In return, the Lord taught all the Marthas of the world a very important lesson: when it doubt, pray.
Blessed are those who hear the word of God and live by it.
Father Alfonse - Perhaps leave your cell phone in your office before/after morning Mass next time you pray before the Blessed Sacrament? Just that 15 or 20 minutes of pure uninterrupted silence can do wonders. I know it works for me. One of the best cleansing activities I did was rid myself of my cell phone during the Montserrat Retreat. I felt like I could hear Our Lord speak more clearly and he could hear me in return. :)
ReplyDeleteI was definitely acting the role as Martha during last week's tree fiasco. I was so busy and anxious that I skipped daily Mass and my regular Prayer schedule. Everything was out of balance. I'm just now getting back into my routine where I take the time to pray even if it's only one of my "nanosecond prayers" when I think fondly of someone in need.
I always wished I could more like you, Father. Anyway, terrific thoughts as always.....
-Jennifer
I go through phases with my time of prayer and Scripture reading. At times I will keep up and other times I play catch up. I try to remind myself that just like I need food on a regular basis, so too do I need spiritual food. Just like I prefer junk food, I prefer computer games to God time. My job is also my primary ministry. Wait, my family ought to be my primary ministry, but they often get the leftovers. It is just so much easier to sit and veg and be lazy to the point of not getting enough sleep and other forms of poor self care. I cannot minister to my family and patients if I lack adequate sleep and nourishment. I can't be a conduit of the Holy Spirit if I do not on a daily basis spend time at the feet of Jesus. I will go on a retreat soon where they will confiscate my phone. Hopefully I can be refueled and retooled to carry on. It will help me reestablish my priorities. We need to be a Mary to fully serve as a Martha.
ReplyDeleteAgnes