July 21, 2013: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Do you ever feel too busy? I don’t know about you, but I have all sorts of tools to help me get organized, such as reminder and to-do apps on my phone, a thick paper calendar, and lots of sticky notes stuck on my desk, but even with all of that, I sometimes feel unorganized, hopelessly behind in my to-do’s, and overwhelmed. Before I entered the seminary, I took a time management class offered by the company I worked for and learned some important techniques such as, “First things first,” “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” and “Begin with end in mind.” At the end of the day, though, I felt busy.

Aren't you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don't you often hope: 'May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.' But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running haphazardly, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burnout.

All of us can identify with Martha in today’s gospel. Martha was overwhelmed and there was not enough time in a day to accomplish what she wanted to accomplish. Yet she was convinced that what she was doing for Jesus was absolutely important.  She expressed her frustration to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” Haven’t we also had occasions when we complained to Jesus about having too many things on our plate and not enough help to accomplish them to satisfaction?

So Jesus replied, “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.” If Jesus was to tell you the same thing after you complain to him about how busy you are, would you be satisfied? What is he telling each of us?

Jesus is addressing our desire to please. Many of our internal voices stem from what we think God expects of us and what others expect of us in order for us to be loveable. While in the seminary, I made a resolve to offer a one-year novena.  It took me 30 minutes each day to pray the novena and after 10 months, the prayer became a to-do on my list. My spiritual director asked me, “Paul, are you doing this so that God will love you more? Will God love you more if you pray all four mysteries of the rosary every day? What if you miss one? Do you fear that God will love you less?”

Would it be a relief to us if we learned that we did not have to accomplish many things in order to please God? One quote that I treasure from Mother Teresa is, “It’s not how much you do, but how much love you put in doing. It’s not how much you give, but how much love you put in giving. To God there is nothing small. The moment we have given it to God, it becomes infinite.”

Sometimes we say to God, “Lord, I resolve each day to read several chapters of scripture.” But what God simply wanted from us was for us to take one verse from scripture and dialogue a few minutes with him. Sometimes we feel that God is asking us to evangelize to many persons when he is simply asking us to speak lovingly about him to one person we meet that day. When we truly know that God already loves us without us trying to earn his love, we don’t have to be an overachiever. He simply asks us, “My son, my daughter, do you desire to be near me as I am always near you?”  If you are having trouble feeling close to God -- or even wanting to draw close -- you might consider what activities you are using to fill the empty places of your life.

The story of Mary and Martha was never meant to be a psychological profile or a role play in which we choose the character with whom we most identify. This is a story of two different responses to one singular occasion. In it, we should find not our personality type, but the kind of heart Christ longs for us to have. Let us spend some time this week asking Jesus how we can order our day to do one thing necessary--that is, to spend quality time with him.