A Reflection for the Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
Find today’s readings here.
“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” (Lk 10:41-42).
Whenever I think of Martha and Mary, I think of my mom. Like Martha, she’s a hardworking, practical woman, who goes about her life just doing what needs to be done, whether on the parish finance council or in the home. For her, every celebration and holiday meal begins days before with an extensive grocery list penned on a yellow Post-it note and does not end until the dishwasher is emptied. But unlike Martha, my mom doesn’t complain. Like many women I know in the church and in the world, she just gets on with what needs doing.
Yet, at first glance, Martha’s complaining seems reasonable. After all, she’s doing all the work and Mary is just chatting away in the living room.
But Jesus sees the truth and reminds Martha and us: We don’t do chores just for the sake of doing them. They are not ends in themselves, but means to an end. That end is, as always, to love and to serve. Today we mark the memorial of St. Scholastica, the sister of Benedict of Nursia and foundress of the Benedictine nuns. The rule of St. Benedict reminds us that “work can express our relationship with the world around us.” In other words, even the smallest of tasks is an opportunity to give thanks for all we have received. It can be our love language, the way we express our love of God and neighbor.
Jesus sees that Martha’s anxiety about her work and her resentment of Mary prevents her from seeing this opportunity. Instead, she sees her work only as a burden. But we are not created to work for work’s sake, but for something more important, more fundamental: To live in love with God and his creation. That should be first in any checklist.
When Jesus enters the house, Mary sees that God is present, that they are in the presence of love. So Mary drops everything to be present in the moment. That’s why Jesus says, “She chose the better part.”
We talk about bishops and priests and saints all the time. But the truth is that—day to day—the people who really run the church are the countless thousands of men and women who labor in love to make it all work—who unlock the doors and sweep the floors, who arrange the flowers and balance the books. Like my mom, they are hardworking and uncomplaining and, like Mary, when it’s time for worship they drop everything in order to be fully present for the most important task of all.
