Part 1: Mary and Martha

In Luke 9 Jesus “turns his face towards Jerusalem” and begins the journey towards the cross. One of the first stops he makes on this journey is to his good friends Mary and Martha. In this short story, we see two ways of receiving and responding to Jesus. Martha receives and responds to Jesus through service. Mary does so through listening and contemplation. We often pit these two women (and these models) against each other. Though Jesus uses the story to remind Martha to slow down, the story leaves us wondering if perhaps both of these are important responses. Today we begin our Lenten journey towards the cross and part of that preparation may include both acts of service/doing and acts of listening/contemplation.