Saint Talk: Martha, Martha Martha

At Jesus's Feet by Nathan Greene

July 29th is the feast day of St. Martha. She is a family favorite because Stacey, my wife, chose her as her patron when she was confirmed. I remember how seriously Stacey took her decision to find a patron for her confirmation. She wanted someone she relate to. She found this in St. Martha who is the patroness of cooks and housewives. Martha, along with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, was one of Jesus's closest friends. He spent a great deal of time with this family in Bethany.

I think Martha often gets a bad rap because we most remember the encounter with Christ in which she is chastised for being too occupied with hospitality.

As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

I don't believe that Christ is telling Martha that service is bad, but instead he is telling her that the contemplative life is better. Nevertheless, the two sisters represent "the two dimensions of the spiritual life." (Ignatius Study Bible). Martha represents the active life of Christian service, while Mary signifies the life of contemplation, of prayer. We would all do well to have a balance spiritual life of both contemplation and service.

I would like to add that Martha redeems her image in a later story in the Bible. When her brother Lazarus has died, she is out waiting for Jesus to return to Bethany. John describes the encounter this way:

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” (John 11:20-27)

By this we can see that Martha was indeed a woman of great faith. Apparently she was no push over either as she is often portrayed as having slain a dragon. For more on this legend, you should read Dr. Taylor Marshall's take on it.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to remind you of a family tradition we started a few years back. We celebrate Baptism Days and we celebrate Patron Saint Days. We don't do anything too extravagant, but today I took Stacey out to lunch after Mass and then out for some gelatin at Paciugo. I recommend you do the same in your family. It's a nice way to bring attention to the liturgy and to have an excuse to celebrate.

By the way, if you didn't get it, the title is a play on the Brady Bunch episode: