In a homily on this gospel, Walter Burghardt once said (Speak the Word with Boldness, Homilies for Risen Christians, Paulist Press, New York: 1994), “the scene at Martha’s house is far richer than a contrast between Carmelites behind a grille and Jesuits running 28 colleges and universities and 43 high schools; between a mother slaving over a hot stove and her sister praying before the Blessed Sacrament; between a Trappist monk silent in the fields and a Thunderbird pilot breaking the sound barrier.”

Both Mary and Martha are teaching would-be disciples that their following of Jesus and their service in his name will require frequent spiritual refueling. Service that is not so supported can become cranky and resentful as is illustrated in Martha’s complaint to Jesus (v. 40). Without the “fuel” of prayer, silence and communion with God, service can become a crushing responsibility, a burden rather than a vocation, an annoyed grumbling, rather than a response to the invitation of God.

Luke Timothy Johnson (The Gospel of Luke, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN: 1991) has explained that the two sisters together also represent the proper response to the good news and its emissaries, viz., one of welcome and receptivity. Through Jesus’ statement, “one thing only is required” (v. 42), this narrative also refines the understanding of hospitality. Some have suggested that Jesus was advising Martha to scale down her menu, offering one dish in calmness rather than several different selections in an atmosphere of chaos. However, Jesus remark had much more profound implications. The one thing only that is required is listening to God’s word. As Joseph Fitzmyer (The Gospel According to Luke, Doubleday, New York: 1985) has stated, Martha wanted to honor Jesus with an elaborate meal, but Jesus reminds her that it is more important to listen to what he has to say as did Mary. The proper service of Jesus is attention to his instruction not an elaborate provision for his physical needs.

Jane Shaberg has suggested that Mary was only an audience, not a disciple, in that what she learned from Jesus was private and not instructive for the community. Shaberg also contends that Jesus’ repetition, “Martha, Martha”. . . is the kindly voice of “love patriarchalism” and that is was Luke’s intent to undermine the leadership role of women in the church (“Luke,” The Women’s Bible Commentary, John Knox Press, Louisville: 1992). Such a suggestion might be somewhat feasible if it were Luke’s intent to contrast the two women, their attitudes, their efforts and Jesus’ responses to them. However, the two women were intended to teach one lesson; that lesson, of balancing prayer and service, was one of many which Jesus taught to his own, both women and men, en route to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-19.27). On the journey, he detailed the demands, blessings and dangers of discipleship in such a way that his disciples, both then and now, and both female and male would be aware of and prepared for the continuously evolving challenge of the gospel. We, for our part, are to continue focusing on the one thing only that is required while busying ourselves with the details of our ministries and the fine art of hospitality.