We all yearn to belong to a loving community. 

We each have a God-given need to belong to a community based on love for one another, where we can each contribute according to our gifts and abilities, and where we can be seen and known for who we really are—warts and all, so to speak.

This is what authentic Christian community looks like. There are many aspects to creating this kind of community, but one we learn from Saint Martha is hospitality.

Hospitality was at the heart of the earliest Christian communities; it set the first Christians apart in an age when care, concern, and love for others was foreign to people. And it is one of the ways modern Catholics can differentiate themselves in the current society.

Saint Martha is most remembered for the day Jesus visited her home and her sister, Mary, sat at his feet rather than helping Martha prepare the meal. Jesus said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary" (Luke 10:41-42). What was he saying? What lesson is here for us? If we read the words literally, we could be led to believe Jesus was saying that preparing the meal was not necessary. Man does not live on bread alone; he also lives on the Word of God. But neither does man live in the Word of God alone, and so clearly someone has to prepare our meals.

The genius of the Gospels is that they speak to us all according to where we are at different times in our lives. If you are a practical person, you may find it much easier to take action than to sit at Jesus' feet in prayer and listen. Like Martha, you may be worried and distracted by many things. Let Jesus' words convict you to do your part but to worry less, and not to be constantly distracted by action, but instead to pause for prayer so that your action springs forth from your relationship with God.

Martha was a fabulous host; she was also a woman of great faith who loved Jesus deeply and obviously had a very special relationship with him. 

Is Jesus asking you to bring your worries to him and place them on the altar at Mass each Sunday to let him deal with them? Is he encouraging you not to put the distractions of this world ahead of what matters most?

And how do these lessons inspire you to do your part to turn your parish into a loving community?

Feast Day: July 29

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Beatrice of Rome

Patron Saint of: Butlers, Cooks, Dietitians, Domestic Servants, Homemakers, Hotel-Keepers, Innkeepers, and Laundry Workers

Also Known As: Sister of Mary and Lazarus 

Symbols: A Ladle, A Broom, or A Set Of Keys