Remember when Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray? Well, before He taught them the Lord’s Prayer, He mentioned -- “When you pray, do not babble like the pagans.” In other words, try not to talk too much, thinking that you need to mention all the prayers and intentions you know without paying any attention to the sacred moment, and without listening to the Lord speaking to you. In the end, He knows what you need, so no need of bombarding Him with so many words. There is a perfect example of what Jesus meant in the Gospel reading today. He is visiting the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. We all know this story well. Martha wanted to be a great host for Jesus, and so she tried to make everything perfect for Him, to the point that she didn’t even find time to spend much time with her great Guest. Mary, on the other hand, didn’t care about anything else, but wanted to take full advantage of the Lord’s presence. I am sure, Martha was a wonderful host, but in the end, Jesus praises Mary for listening to Him, not Martha, who was so busy with other things. “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Because she was able to listen, she probably heard many wonderful things from Jesus, and that experience will never be taken away from her.
