563. July 29, St Martha

Meditations no. 494 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Our centres and our hearts have to be a home for our Lord, just like the home in Bethany was.

Now as they went on their way, he 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 teaching.

Our Father told us that we too can place ourselves in that house in Bethany, a resting place whose doors were always open to Jesus. There our Lord had a home, as I have often pointed out to you, just like the one he should find in our hearts and our Centres, in our tabernacles, because we treat him well and strive to welcome and love him better each day.

Bethany moves me. It has always moved me. That house was our Lord’s home. He knew that at any time of the day he would be received there with affection and gratitude. That family was waiting for him to arrive at every moment, and missed him when he wasn’t there. They never got used to the Master’s visits. It is easy to imagine how eager they were to hear Jesus’ voice, to listen to the advice of their great Friend, who helped them to bear their sorrows and setbacks. And we can also imagine how happy our Lord was to share in the joys of that family. That house, I repeat, was a home to Jesus. There he found himself loved and cared for; there he could rest after his days spent working and preaching.

I would like each of us to understand very clearly that when we work, when we pray (these two activities amount to one), when we take care of our brothers and sisters, when we seek out souls, we can play the part of Martha and Mary. Whatever we do, wherever we are, we can always attend to Jesus, take care of him and listen to him. So it is very important that we give our life a sense of eternity, that we never fall into routine or habit, because our Lord is waiting for us behind every task. You have to fight against tiredness and a lack of desire, which can and almost certainly will happen to you at one point or another, by striving to do things better each day, perhaps the same things done at the same time. If we work out of love they will never be the same things. They will take on a very distinctive savour!

With our contemplative life, with our effort to always stay close to God in every circumstance and place, we turn earthly pursuits into divine treasures, which God accepts and multiplies. Let us renew our resolution to show with deeds, in the tasks entrusted to each one of us, that we are contemplatives. May our only concern be to live facing God; and thus we will live facing the world, in order to sanctify it.

The spirit of the Work teaches us to combine, in perfect harmony, the intense work of Martha and the contemplative spirit of Mary.

Capturing the warmth of that family scene where Jesus rests, the Evangelist writes that Martha had a sister named Mary, who listened with great attention to Jesus’ words. It is easy to imagine Mary totally absorbed by the strength of those words, by the charity they convey, by their demands. Mary listens with great attention to the divine word, and it seems right to us that she do so. Then how is it that you and I fail to pay close attention to our Lord, who also speaks to us in a thousand different ways? Cast off the excuses that make you a coward before God’s demands. He is asking you to be more pious, more punctual, more affectionate, more apostolic, harder working, more prayerful. … He addresses his words to you, and wants you too to choose the better part, to make Him your only concern.

An abundance of work is no obstacle to a close relationship with Jesus Christ. On the contrary, our professional work is for us, by divine vocation, the place where we encounter our Lord, the main occasion for dealing with him and loving him. But an upright intention is essential. If it is lacking, what we read today about Martha could also happen to us: But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then 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 good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”

When work leads to unrest and anxiety, it is a clear sign that our interior life is weak. For a soul in love seeks above all to please God in each of its actions. Far from being a hindrance to keeping God present, our tasks are done with a new desire, with a refinement that is already an affectionate relationship with our Lord. I cannot say to you, my daughters, our Father wrote in one of his letters, what our Lord said to Martha (cf Luke 10: 40-42), because in all your activities, including your household tasks, which you fulfil with neither anxiety nor a merely human outlook, you always bear in mind that only one thing is necessary-porro unum est necessarium (Luke 10: 42). And you, like Mary, have also chosen the better part, which will never be taken away from you (cf Luke10: 42), because you have a vocation as contemplative souls in the middle of the world.

This is the essence of the message entrusted by God to our founder. With the spirit of Opus Dei, any honest human work can be turned into a divine reality. Our Father taught this to everyone, including those who take care of the tasks of the household administration in our Centres. This divine call, he wrote, means to be especially chosen. It is a privilege, a cause for thanksgiving and joy. See how this invitation from God wonderfully harmonizes work and contemplation. It unites a very noble human task that is indispensable to society with a divinized life, a prelude to the happiness of heaven. In each one of you the role of Martha and that of Mary are perfectly united, because one is as necessary as the other, since Martha’s part is the prerequisite and means for Mary’s.

The work of the household administration, which multiplies the Work’s apostolate, is most pleasing to God.

The family of Bethany’s refined treatment of Jesus is a model of cheerful service, based on a love without limits. The domestic work of Martha and Mary’s solicitous attention invite us to consider the work of the household administration in our Centres. Their work is as a privilege for which we can never thank our Lord enough. In carrying out these tasks, our sisters admirably unite the love of Mary and the complete dedication of Martha.

The administration’s work is a true and very direct service to God, wrote our founder. Perhaps you don’t realize this. It might seem an insignificant thread in the wonderful tapestry of the Work, but in reality it is the backing that supports the finest embroideries. Without it, a large portion of our apostolate would be impossible, and the atmosphere of a home, which helps us so much in the service of God, would be lacking.

Today we pray in a special way for these tasks that are so important in the Work. And we do so making use of our Father’s words. My daughters, may each tabernacle truly be Bethany for us, and each Centre as well. This will be the case if my daughters taking care of the household administration, without being seen or heard, maintain a contemplative life in their clean souls. May they always know how to combine the prayer of Mary and the work of Martha, in order to take care of Jesus, so that he may rest, so that he may recover his strength to continue fulfilling the Will of his Father in heaven.

This doesn’t seem strange to you, since you live it. I have to remind you again that many people couldn’t understand it; they didn’t think it was possible to seek Christian perfection while remaining in the middle of the world, without changing one’s state. After much effort and with the help of divine grace, I managed to get those ecclesiastics to understand. And it is precisely this work of my daughters, the apostolate of apostolates, that is praised so highly by the Holy See. I never tire of repeating this in words and in writing.

In our prayer we are very united to the continuous prayer of my daughters and sons spread throughout the whole world. Let us ask our Lord, who presides from the Tabernacle, to give us his grace, so that we know how to make him stay with us as Martha and Mary did, as the disciples of Emmaus did. Lord, we need you. Never abandon us. May we never leave you.

My children, by the laws of nature I will die before you do. I don’t know when it will be, but I accept death where God wants it, when he wants it and how he wants it. I see that the night of my life is approaching, and both for eternity and for each day that I remain in this world, I ask for myself and for you: Lord, stay with us! Stay with us in the Bethany that all our Centres are! Stay in our hearts! And if we ever have the misfortune of separating ourselves from You, come out to meet us yourself, and remind us that only You have the words of eternal Life, of peace, of tranquillity; of a peace and joy that the world cannot give.

And help my daughters who look after our homes, who look after the whole Work, who look after you in doing those jobs because they spend their time praying and working with You. Help them turn their souls into a Bethany where you can rest.

In finishing today’s meditation, let us thank God for the atmosphere of a home in our Centres that helps us to be with Jesus as though we were in Bethany and in Nazareth, next to Mary and Joseph.