Martha and Mary are often identified as the prime examples of the two main divisions of the spiritual life, and really of life in general.  Martha is the active one: she’s a workaholic and represents the active part of the Christian life: doing good works, preaching, teaching, evangelizing.  Mary is the quiet sister: she’s thoughtful and restrained: she’s a listener, a natural when it comes to quiet contemplation and prayer.  Together these two show us the main motions of the spiritual life: the active and the contemplative.  And they show us the main motions of life in general: activity and quiet.  Martha is the extrovert, Mary the introvert. 

Each one of us in our unique personality, tends towards one or the other.  It’s important for us to know that about ourselves and keep it in mind, because it affects our spiritual life.  If we tend to have more Martha in us: we’re people of action: we’ll gravitate towards doing things in our spiritual lives: this isn’t bad.  We should do things.  We should put our Faith into action and try to have rigorous routines, even in our prayer life.  But the danger is to focus too much on the externals and forget the need for quiet and contemplation and sincerity: even our prayer might get business-like: checking off boxes.  On the other hand, if we’ve got more Mary in us: we might be more passive.  We may focus on the peace and quiet of simple prayer and resting in the presence and light of the Lord.  And this isn’t bad either.  But the danger here is that we get complacent; we might think that the rules don’t apply to us, when in fact they’re more important for us than ever: we might fall into that all-too-common trap: thinking of ourselves as “spiritual rather than religious” which is always a cop-out.  And then critical things, things that we need, like our weekly Mass attendance, regular confession, works of charity: might eventually be completely absent. 

The truth is, whatever our overall tendencies might be, at various times in our lives, we’ll face both temptations.  And that’s why these two sisters are such great models for us.  Because they both love the Lord.  The Lord reminds them of the need for balance in their lives, but they both want to serve and be with the Lord when he comes to them.  And that’s the key.  You notice that St. Luke doesn’t tell us what happens next.  He helps Martha to see how Mary’s attentiveness and peacefulness are every bit as much an expression of her love of the Lord. And maybe Mary learns the same lesson.  Maybe she sees in Martha an authentic proactive way to serve the Lord.  Maybe they both see, that love of God, attentiveness to the Lord, can take many forms, among different people, and even within one’s own life.  And that’s a freeing reality: that God desires to have a unique kind of relationship with each one of us, a relationship that accounts for our experiences and our personalities.  But it’s also a challenge, because the Lord doesn’t let Martha and Mary stagnate in the safety of their own personalities.  He calls them to live more deeply and more completely.  He doesn’t reject Martha’s default position of action, he just reminds her of the beauty of Mary’s quiet attentiveness.  He places them together. 

And this can be a wonderful self-examination for us, that we can come back to again and again:  Martha and Mary.  Am I keeping busy with legitimate work and a solid routine of prayer and good works in my spiritual life, or am I a busybody?  On the other hand, am I properly reflective and focused on personal relationships and fostering a spirit of peace, or am I hiding from my obligations and the true duties that I have?  We have all the help we need to maintain this balance in our lives.  The things of our spiritual life, the things that we need to do, are laid out for us by God: the Ten Commandments, the precepts of the Church, the obligations of the moral life.  These things keep us on track.  But we also have access to the great treasury of the Church’s spiritual heritage to help us with the contemplative side of things: like the Holy Rosary, spiritual reading, and the simple quiet intimacy of personal prayer.  If we stay close to both sides of the equation, we have nothing to worry about: the more we grow in our spiritual lives, the more we internalize these things, the more these two sides of our spiritual life will infuse each other: our prayer will lead us to action, and all our activity will be steeped in a spirit of prayer and the presence of God.  There’s no greater gift than the Holy Mass, which is both the perfect prayer and also the perfect activity.  Let us ask the Lord to fill our hearts with love of him and zeal for the salvation for our own salvation and the salvation of all.