Reading
Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
Devotion
This week's artwork is JohannesVermeer's Christ in the House of Martha and Mary. Vermeer, a Dutch painter, and one of my favorites from this era, created this large painting in or around 1655. The painting currently resides in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.
There are a couple of things I really love about this painting. The first is that Vermeer, while attending to the story as described in the verses from the Gospel of Luke above, portrays the women in a contemporary, for him, scene. I think this is important because the impact of the Gospel, the Good News, is meant to be felt in our own time and place, not locked away as something that happened once upon a time and has nothing to do with us now.
The second thing I really like about Vermeer's rendering of the scene is that Mary and Martha seem companionable and not at odds. Jesus' eyes and outstretched hand connects them and holds them together, restoring a relationship that may have been temporarily disrupted. I love the connection because it seems to me that Martha and Mary are two sides of a single coin, a coin meant to be spent on behalf of the community.
A Spiritual guide I follow, John Shea, had this to say about developing Martha-Mary action-consciousness: "We have to use our inner disposition toward the divine to discern the lure of God in every situation and cooperate with it to make that situation all it can be. God is both inside and outside, a power that sustain our personal being and summons us to cooperate in building a just world (The Spiritual Wisdom Of the Gospels For Christian Preachers And Teachers: The Relentless Widow Year C, page xx).
Where are you this week in your own Martha-Mary life, dear reader? How is God sustaining you? To what is God luring you? Perhaps try some centering prayer this week: Centering Prayer — Center for Action and Contemplation
Prayer
Lord, grant that I may always allow myself to be guided by You,
always follow Your plans,
and perfectly accomplish Your Holy Will.
Grant that in all things, great and small,
today and all the days of my life,
I may do whatever You require of me.
Help me respond to the slightest prompting of Your Grace,
so that I may be Your trustworthy instrument for Your honor.
May Your Will be done in time and in eternity by me,
in me, and through me. Amen. (St. Teresa of Avila)