J
John_Russell_Jr
Guest
My dear friends
Here are some thoughts on this much loved passage of scripture all the spiritual masters seem to use to explain the two types i.e. contemplative and active life. Martha and Mary. Martha representing the active life, and her sister Mary representing the contemplative life. I offer my thoughts on this below. I welcome your comments, insights, thoughts etc.
Luke.10
38] Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house.
39] And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
40] But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
41] But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
42] one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Comments :
I would say Martha is doing some mental and vocal prayer here, accompanied by the prayers of keeping the presence of God and doing Gods will. But the thing that strikes me with Martha is she is busy about doing worldly things that are necessary and holy but not the higher form of prayer which is contemplation. She is likely doing a little contemplation here and there when she is not busy. But she is in the presence of God and ought to be more concerned with the highest form of prayer at this time. Much the same as when we are in the presence of the blessed sacrament. She is praying and doing Gods will, but not doing it as perfectly as she should at this time. Clearly her words indicate a little lack of love and understanding. I say little because she’s a saint. She has great love but not as much as she could and does not understand this and this is why Jesus tells her Mary has chosen the good portion. I’ll explain on.
Mary is at the Lords feet listening to Him with her whole attention and loving Him with her whole heart, soul, mind and strength. The thing God really wants from us is our love. The prayer is great as Martha does here, but Mary is practising contemplation which is the highest form of prayer because this prayer is to just gaze at God and love Him. There is a lot more love in pure contemplation like this. The good portion Jesus speaks of is that Mary is offering him more love, more love in her prayer. God craves our love.
Some are called to be pure contemplatives and some are called to be active contemplatives. I think normally the pure contemplatives have chosen the best path because it’s much easier to offer God the love He craves. But having said that we need actives too. Active contempatives cannot usually engage in continual pure contemplation, but they can be contemplatives in the midst of all their active duties. They may not offer the degree of love in their contemplation a pure contemplative would. But they can make up for this by doing Gods will in their active side and contributing this way also. So I think both are equal when done perfectly or near perfectly. It just depends how well you do it. I don’t think we should strive to be purely active with only a few prayers a day. You can still go to heaven. But the church says we are called to be saints. Contemplation is needed for this and I think we should try to be active contemplatives if we’re not pure contemplatives so we offer God as much love as possible, which is what He wants.
What do you think about all this dear friends?
May God bless us all as we contemplate Him in all creation:thumbsup:
John
Here are some thoughts on this much loved passage of scripture all the spiritual masters seem to use to explain the two types i.e. contemplative and active life. Martha and Mary. Martha representing the active life, and her sister Mary representing the contemplative life. I offer my thoughts on this below. I welcome your comments, insights, thoughts etc.
Luke.10
38] Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house.
39] And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
40] But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
41] But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
42] one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Comments :
I would say Martha is doing some mental and vocal prayer here, accompanied by the prayers of keeping the presence of God and doing Gods will. But the thing that strikes me with Martha is she is busy about doing worldly things that are necessary and holy but not the higher form of prayer which is contemplation. She is likely doing a little contemplation here and there when she is not busy. But she is in the presence of God and ought to be more concerned with the highest form of prayer at this time. Much the same as when we are in the presence of the blessed sacrament. She is praying and doing Gods will, but not doing it as perfectly as she should at this time. Clearly her words indicate a little lack of love and understanding. I say little because she’s a saint. She has great love but not as much as she could and does not understand this and this is why Jesus tells her Mary has chosen the good portion. I’ll explain on.
Mary is at the Lords feet listening to Him with her whole attention and loving Him with her whole heart, soul, mind and strength. The thing God really wants from us is our love. The prayer is great as Martha does here, but Mary is practising contemplation which is the highest form of prayer because this prayer is to just gaze at God and love Him. There is a lot more love in pure contemplation like this. The good portion Jesus speaks of is that Mary is offering him more love, more love in her prayer. God craves our love.
Some are called to be pure contemplatives and some are called to be active contemplatives. I think normally the pure contemplatives have chosen the best path because it’s much easier to offer God the love He craves. But having said that we need actives too. Active contempatives cannot usually engage in continual pure contemplation, but they can be contemplatives in the midst of all their active duties. They may not offer the degree of love in their contemplation a pure contemplative would. But they can make up for this by doing Gods will in their active side and contributing this way also. So I think both are equal when done perfectly or near perfectly. It just depends how well you do it. I don’t think we should strive to be purely active with only a few prayers a day. You can still go to heaven. But the church says we are called to be saints. Contemplation is needed for this and I think we should try to be active contemplatives if we’re not pure contemplatives so we offer God as much love as possible, which is what He wants.
What do you think about all this dear friends?
May God bless us all as we contemplate Him in all creation:thumbsup:

John