Today's Gospel

The Power of Honest Prayer

Welcome back. I'm Matthew Kelly, and I love this opportunity to explore the gospels with you. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of Luke 10:28-42. It's the story of Martha and Mary. It's one we're very familiar with. And when we encounter these gospel readings that we're very familiar with, it's important that we listen in a new way. And I think that's why listening for a word or a phrase or an idea that the Holy Spirit draws you to can be very helpful when it comes to a reading that we've heard many times. It can be helpful to help us discover a new way of looking at that reading or a new layer to that reading.

Now, as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teachings. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she said to Jesus, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it shall not be taken from her." What is it that jumps out at you in today's reading? Now, as they went on their way, Jesus entered the village. So this is Jesus meeting Martha and Mary, who become great friends, sisters of Lazarus. If you read the Holy Week readings—if you read the Gospels during Holy Week, you discover that Jesus comes back each night and stays in this village with Martha and Mary and Lazarus. So they must have become great friends over this time. But this appears to be their first meeting. And they welcome Jesus in.

Interestingly, it's Martha that welcomes him in, but it's Mary that is the one that sits at his feet and just wants to learn everything he says, wants to just soak in the wisdom. And Martha is busying herself with things of the house, the things of having guests, the things of serving food and beverage. This reading has special meaning for me because my parish growing up in Australia was St. Martha's. And so my pastor would talk a lot about Martha, a lot about Mary. And of course, ultimately, what does Martha do? She comes to Jesus and she complains. Okay. She complains to Jesus. Now we've spoken about it before, but we don't speak about it that often. Every word that someone speaks to Jesus in the Gospels is a prayer. Why? Because prayer is a conversation with God. When we speak to God, it's a prayer. And so let's listen to Martha's prayer. Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me. That is it. It's a beautiful prayer, right? Why is it a beautiful prayer? It's a beautiful prayer because it's so human, right? It's so human. It's like, I remember Ralph was about five years old, doing his prayers one night. It's like, "Good night, Jesus. I'm going to bed now. I'm really tired. We'll do more prayers tomorrow." And it's like, "Wow. You could force him to do his prayers, right?"

But the truth is, like the honesty of that prayer is just pure. And the honesty of Martha's prayer here is pure. Why? Because she's coming from her perspective. That's how she's thinking about it. That's how she's feeling about it, and she's coming to Jesus and she's saying, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me alone to serve? Tell her to help me." And I'm sure this prayer has been prayed many, many, many times throughout history by millions of people, millions of people, because this is what happens. Some siblings carry more of the tasks than other siblings. And no doubt those siblings come to Jesus and complain and point out the injustice. And what is Martha's expectation? Martha's expectation is that Jesus will say, "Hey, Mary, do your part." And in Jesus's typical paradoxical way, He doesn't say that. He doesn't say that. He says, "Mary has chosen. Martha, you have chosen." He says, "Martha, you're anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary." Mary has chosen the better part. It won't be taken from her. Which part are we choosing? Are we choosing the Martha path? Are we anxious and troubled about many things? And do we need to be? Is that necessary? Is that what God is calling us to? Are we anxious and troubled about many things? Probably we are.

And so today, maybe what you're being called to, what I'm being called to, is to say, "Okay. What am I anxious about? What am I troubled about? How is that out of alignment with what God is calling me to do and who God is calling me to be right now? And how do I ask God to give me the grace to release the things that I'm anxious about, to release the things that I'm troubled about, to trust that He is going to take care of those things. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.