The Better Part and the Broken Tablets: Choosing Presence Over Performance

Exod 32:15-24.30-34, Psalm: 105, Lk 10:38-42

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On this Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, the Church presents us with a beautiful and challenging mystery: the call to sit at the Lord’s feet, even as the world demands our anxious service. The first reading gives us a scene of chaos—Moses descending from Sinai with the tablets of the Law, only to find the people worshiping a golden calf. The Gospel gives us a scene of quiet—Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, while Martha is “anxious and troubled about many things.” In both, we are confronted with the question: What truly matters?

In the Book of Exodus, Moses is on the mountain receiving the Law from God. The people below grow restless and demand a god they can see and control. Aaron fashions a golden calf, and the people worship it. Moses, seeing the idolatry, shatters the tablets of the Law. The people have chosen the visible over the invisible, the manageable over the mysterious. They have exchanged the presence of God for a performance of their own making.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus enters the home of Martha and Mary. Martha is “burdened with much serving,” anxious about the preparations. Mary sits at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her. But Jesus responds, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. There is only one thing needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.”

The connection between the readings is the danger of distraction. The Israelites were distracted by their desire for a visible god; they turned their worship into a performance. Martha was distracted by her desire to serve well; she turned hospitality into anxiety. Both lost sight of what truly matters: being in the presence of the Lord. The golden calf was an idol of their own making. Martha’s anxious service was a kind of idol as well—a belief that her worth depended on her performance.

Pope Francis has said, “Martha was a good woman, but she was anxious. She needed to learn that the first thing is to listen to Jesus.” Saint John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem, wrote, “Mary is the model of contemplation, Martha of action. Both are necessary, but contemplation must precede action.” And Saint Augustine, reflecting on the Gospel, wrote, “Martha was busy serving, but Mary was resting in the Lord. The better part is the one that lasts.”

What does this mean for us? We live in a world that demands constant activity, constant productivity, constant performance. We can become like Martha, anxious and troubled about many things—the demands of work, the needs of family, the pressures of life. We can even turn our service to God into a source of anxiety, forgetting that we are not saved by our works, but by His grace. And we can become like the Israelites, fashioning idols of our own making—success, comfort, control—that distract us from the presence of God.

This week, let us choose the better part. Let us sit at the feet of Jesus, listening to His word, before we rush into service. Let us not allow anxiety to steal our peace. And let us remember that the one thing necessary is to be with the Lord. In His presence, our restless hearts find rest. In His word, our anxious minds find clarity. In His love, our striving finds meaning.

May the intercession of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus help us to balance action and contemplation, to serve without anxiety, and to rest in the presence of the One who alone is necessary. For He is the better part, and He will not be taken from us. Amen.

May God bless you all!

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