Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
I was once given this vaguely helpful piece of advice: If you want to make it seem like you’re contributing to a meeting where you don’t have anything to say, wait until a random time when two people are disagreeing and proclaim “what we need to do is find the right balance between your approaches.” It isn’t actually helpful, but it sounds wise.
Today’s readings (Jonah 3:1-10 & Luke 10:38-42) immediately make me think about balance. The Gospel is the story of Mary and Martha – Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the “better part” by listening to Jesus speak instead of helping Martha (Luke 10:42). Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part, but it is not because of Martha’s works – it is because of Martha’s worrying. Jesus doesn’t tell Martha that her work is bad or that she should stop serving, but instead that instead of worrying about many things, she should think of the only thing she really needs – Him. I can sympathize with Martha. When I start to worry, especially in a stressful hosting situation like Martha’s, I get overwhelmed easily. I start focusing on easily addressed minutia and work at a fast pace, not always because it needs to be done quickly, but because it helps me feel less overwhelmed if I feel like I’m meeting the challenge at an appropriate speed (although usually, it just serves to get my heart rate up for minor things). So I understand Martha’s worry, and I certainly know the dangers that come with it.
Frequently, we read this and are told we need to find a balance between Mary (prayer) and Martha (action), although it’s clear what Jesus is emphasizing. Jesus never denies the importance of Martha’s works, but He praises Mary’s desire to be close to Him, and not to worry. This is not a lesson about balance, it’s a lesson that God must come first, especially over worries. Of course there is need for work, but if we try to balance work and prayer, we run the risk of considering them in need of equal attention. This is a risk because it would be a great diminishing of the importance of prayer and our relationship of God. As St. Francis de Sales tells us, “Every one of us needs half an hour of prayer every day, except when we are busy – then we need an hour.”
The first reading (Jonah 3:1-10) is an example of the dedication we all should strive for. Upon hearing the word of the Lord, all of Nineveh responds. The king of Nineveh doesn’t tell Jonah that he wants to “find the right balance” between what Nineveh wants and what God wants – he declares a great fast across all of Nineveh. In the ten verses of this reading, there are at least six times that the scope of this is made clear – everyone in every part of the city responds to God’s message with prayer and fasting. It was a whole commitment, not a balance, that Nineveh needed, and we need the same.
May we strive not to find a balance between our prayer and our work, but to give ourselves wholly to our prayer, and to let our work be done in a spirit of trust in God.
Marty Bagatti