The Placing of the Precious Robe of Our Most Holy Lady and the Mother of God in the Church at Blachernae in Constantinople; Verkhratska Weeping Icon of the Mother of God (1688)
Rank: Polyeleos
Read
Hebrew 9:1-7; Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28
In reading today’s Gospel, a Gospel reading that we hear on almost every Marian Feast, we should not judge Martha’s serving of our Lord as something bad or negative. Rather, we should see it as a distraction from what is more important or, as Jesus says, the better part. Serving and being hospitable is commendable, but it is not always the most important.
Our lives are so inundated with daily tasks that we often forget or postpone our personal prayer, reading of Scripture, or Sunday and Holy Day participation in the Divine Liturgy. We can get bogged down with our family and friends in various capacities. Our willingness to serve those around us is commendable, but it cannot replace our daily communion with God and sitting at the feet of Jesus as Mary did.
Resolve to make prayer an essential part of your day if it is not already. Maybe it means waking up before everyone else in the house, rearranging your daily schedule, or postponing an activity in order to centre your day to day life around communion with God rather than serving others. If we give our time to Christ first, He can then enrich our service to others.
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