Martha’s Burdens

It’s time to admit it: I’ve been unfair to Mary in the past. Been a little catty about her. Oooh, Mary, she’s so holy. Well, do you like to eat, Mary? Who made your lunch? Yeah, that’s right: it was Martha. Because you know what? It’s the Marthas who get things done in the world while the Marys lounge around reading Aquinas and attending silent retreats and going to Eucharistic Adoration whenever they want.

And there you have it, folks: my bitterness on full display! I tend to identify with Martha, not with Mary, and I need to stop doing that.

Because I am not Martha instead of Mary. I am both. We are all both.

Mary was a woman; she was expected to do the serving, too. She shared that burden; she wasn’t abandoning it, heaping her portion on Martha. And it’s so wrong to assume that Mary didn’t have the same cares and anxieties as Martha — perhaps she even had more!

Here’s the difference: Mary, unlike Martha (and me, I guess) knew where to go with them.

We typically see our burdens as an impediment to a relationship with Christ. I’m so busy. I’m so overwhelmed. There are so many demands on me, on my time, on my person, on my finances. Take a number, Jesus. Get in line. But we’re thinking the wrong way. Burdens aren’t an obstacle that stands between us and Christ. Burdens are the straightest path to his feet.

God knows about burdens, okay? Aside from being all-wise and all-knowing, he basically completed a doctorate in suffering, taking on a human form (itself kind of a burden, if you think about it) and for 33 years lived among the hardest and heaviest burdens this world has to offer.

Why did he do this? Well, part of the reason was so that we could finally understand that our burdens aren’t a barrier between us and God. On the contrary, they connect us to him.

Are you anxious about many things? Then you need to be right where Mary is: at the feet of Jesus, with all your burdens.

©LPi