Oct. 9, 2012 Tuesday: 27th Week in Ordinary B

Does the peace of Christ reign in your home and in your personal life? Jesus loved to visit the home of Martha and Mary and enjoyed their gracious hospitality. In this brief encounter we see two very different temperaments in Martha and Mary. Martha loved to serve, but in her anxious manner of waiting on Jesus, she caused unrest. Mary, in her simple and trusting manner, waited on Jesus by sitting attentively at his feet. She instinctively knew that what the Lord and Teacher most wanted at that moment was her attentive presence. Anxiety and preoccupation keep us from listening and from giving the Lord our undivided attention. The Lord bids us to give him our concerns and anxieties because he is trustworthy and able to meet any need we have. His grace frees us from needless concerns and preoccupation. Do you seek the Lord attentively? And does the Lord find a welcomed and honored place in your home? The Lord Jesus desires that we make a place for him, not only in our hearts, but in our homes and in the daily circumstances of our lives as well. We honor the Lord when we offer to him everything we have and everything we do. Afterall, everything we have is an outright gift from God (1 Chronicles 29:14). Paul the Apostle urges us to give God glory in everything: "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). When you sit, eat, sleep and when you entertain your friends and guests, remember that the Lord Jesus is also the guest of your home. Scripture tells us that when Abraham opened his home and welcomed three unknown travelers, he welcomed the Lord who blessed him favorably for his gracious hospitality (Genesis 18:1-10; Hebrews 13:2). The Lord wants us to bring him glory in the way we treat others and use the gifts he has graciously given to us. God, in turn, blesses us with his gracious presence and fills us with joy. "Lord Jesus, to be in your presence is life and joy for me. Free me from needless concerns and preoccupations that I may give you my undivided love and attention." The following reflection is courtesy of PresentationMinistries.com (c) 2012. Their website is located at PresentationMinistries.com QUIET WORK "She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord's feet and listened to His words." Luke 10:39 Jesus lived in the obscurity and silence of Nazareth for almost thirty years before His three years of public ministry. Saul, after one of the greatest conversions in history, did not plunge into ministry. He described the three years after his conversion: "Immediately, without seeking human advisers or even going to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, I went off to Arabia; later I returned to Damascus" (Gal 1:16-17). We don't know what Saul did in Arabia and Damascus, but it is probable that he sat "at the Lord's feet and listened to His words" (Lk 10:39). Before significant ministry for the Lord, we need years of listening in places like Nazareth, Arabia, or Damascus, culminating in our own forty days in the silence of the desert (see Mt 4:1-2). In today's Gospel reading, the Lord may not have been telling Martha to stop working altogether but to pray and listen first. Then she would be able to really work in the power of the Spirit. Because we need to hear from the Lord before we work for Him, we must be quick to hear and slow to speak and act (see Jas 1:19). This may explain why the devil keeps us so busy and makes us so noisy. He knows that if we don't hear God, we won't believe in Him (Rm 10:17). Then we will never do the work of God, which is to "have faith in the One Whom He sent" (Jn 6:29). Be quiet, hear, and work. Prayer: Father, quiet my soul (Ps 131:2) and open my ears (Is 50:4). Promise: "Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it." Luke 10:42
- Don Schwager, www.dailyscripture.net