FRIDAY, May 29

The problem wasn't that Martha spent all her time in the kitchen. Someone must prepare meals, and cooking can be a noble calling. Nor was the problem that Martha refused to sit attentively at Jesus' feet. If everyone sat around listening to preachers all the time, we'd soon stop paying attention to what the preachers are saying because we'd be thinking only of the hors d'oeuvres still in the refrigerator and why no one was passing them around.

The problem was that Martha was distracted by her many tasks. To be distracted is to have your mind captured, to be unable to stop thinking about something, to be obsessed by it. Our distractions may be good things in themselves (like serving guests), but if they keep us from attending to other needs, we should let go of them.

My wife and I once attended a luncheon where the hostess greeted us and her other guests at the door and then left us to ourselves for an hour while she busied herself in the kitchen. We did not know the other guests, and conversation was awkward without our hostess present. The food, when it was finally served, was good, but we did not enjoy the luncheon. I thought of Martha that afternoon.

PRAY for the Diocese of Cuernavaca (Mexico)

Ps 102 * 107:1-32; Ezekiel 34:17-31; Hebrews 8:1-13

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