In today’s Gospel we hear the account of Martha and Mary, both of whom are working, but one who has chosen the better part. Because while one is busy doing the work necessary for their guest, the other is sitting at the feet of Jesus, like a little child, captivated by what He has to say and inspired by His wisdom.

And, this annoys Martha, because to her, Mary is seemingly doing nothing at all, so Martha, in typical sisterly fashion calls Mary out in front of their guest, in front of Jesus, for her to work just as hard as her.

However, Jesus does not respond in the way she had hoped, instead, with obvious affection for her, He tells her gently: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.” And that one thing is what Mary is doing, that one thing is spending time with Jesus, as she was, more or less, in prayer.

For, if Martha had begun as Mary, she might have seen her work differently, she might not have been filled with anxiety and stress, but rather, have seen her work as an opportunity to learn sanctity and to see God in the everyday.

For, this is what Martha and Mary remind us, that all of our work, no matter what it is, must begin and must end in prayer, that each moment, of each day we should pause in our lives so as to take a moment to remember God, to take a moment to pray.

There is a great story about Bl. John Paul II. His staff had been searching for him endlessly, but could not find him, when they did finally find him, he was at prayer in his little chapel. One of the cardinals came up to him, apologized for interrupting him, and told him there was a very important matter he had to tend to. The Holy Father, looked up, and asked: “is it really important?” The Cardinal responded that indeed it was, the Holy Father then asked again the same thing: “are you sure it is really important.” Again, the Cardinal assured him that the sooner he could tend to the matter the better. The Holy Father paused, thought about it for a moment, and said to the Cardinal, “then I better finish my prayers.”

All too often there is a temptation to look at our work as our prayer, rather than looking at our work as an extension or as coming out of our prayer. I remember, years ago, when I was in the seminary how often I was told that those days when I would not be able to pray, (which, unfortunately does happen) I should just look at my work as my prayer, and be content with that. However, I remember when I tried doing that how I started to feel like Martha, running in a thousands directions, worried and anxious and never knowing why.

Truth of the matter is, no matter how hard we try, our work will never be fulfilling unless we seek to sanctify it each and every day, and we can only do so, unless we begin and end with, through, and in Christ.

I know a priest who put is quite well, he said: “It is a well-known fact that those who are in the caring professions like doctors, nurses, pastors, social workers and even parents often suffer from burnout and terminal exhaustion as Martha did. As a result, their work goes downhill; they begin to do less while often taking longer to do it. They feel tired, unfulfilled, and hopeless. People suffering from burnout often end up angry, anxious, and worried.”

This is why in order to work like Martha we must begin like Mary. Take each moment of each day and let Christ permeate those moments, so that our work is not a burden but, indeed, a blessing, that it does not make us anxious but joyful, and that we don’t end just exhausted but thankful, knowing that our work, no matter what it was, no matter what it is, can bring us sanctity, can bring us holiness, knowing we have chosen the better part and, as a result, will not and cannot be taken from us.