Dear Marty,<\/p>\n
By now I am sure you have found your rhythm at work.\u00a0 You may even be starting to feel that healthy pleasure that comes from mastering new techniques and doing a job really well, day after day.\u00a0 That\u2019s good.\u00a0 We were made to work; our work is a continuation of God\u2019s own ur-work of Creation.\u00a0 He got everything started, we develop it.\u00a0 But along with expertise and efficiency, along with achievements and effectiveness, there comes a temptation: self-sufficiency.\u00a0 It\u2019s one that today\u2019s saint tended to fall into, and Jesus taught her the secret way out of it.<\/p>\n
Martha of Bethany was sister to Lazarus (the one Jesus rose from the dead \u2013 check out John 11 if you need a reminder) and Mary (the one who anointed Jesus with precious perfume a few days before his Passion).\u00a0 Jesus was good friends with this family and often stayed or dined with them.\u00a0 Luke describes one of these visits in Chapter 10 of his Gospel.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you remember it.\u00a0 Jesus is there in the living room talking with his disciples, and Mary of Bethany is sitting there at his feet, drinking up every word.\u00a0 Martha, meanwhile, is busying herself getting things ready for dinner, and is \u201cdistracted with all the serving\u201d as St Luke puts it.\u00a0 Finally, she gets fed up trying to do everything herself, and she says to Jesus, \u201cLord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.\u201d\u00a0 Can\u2019t you just picture the scene?\u00a0 It shows how well they knew Jesus, and how normal of a man Jesus was in so many ways: Martha felt perfectly comfortable embroiling him in a typical, petty family squabble.<\/p>\n
Jesus looks up at her, smiles, and then gives her a lesson I am sure she never forgot (and never stopped thinking about).\u00a0 He says to her: \u201cMartha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things\u2026 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.\u201d\u00a0 Only one thing is needed, \u201cunum est necessarium\u201d in the Latin vulgate\u2026 to listen to Jesus, to contemplate him, to let him serve us through his gifts of grace, to sit at his feet and drink in his divine wisdom.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, my hearty young nephew.\u00a0 So continue enjoying your work, and do it as well as it can be done, but never forget that in the grand scheme of things, what you accomplish on your own matters not a whit compared with what Christ wants to accomplish in and through you.<\/p>\n
Your loving uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Marty, By now I am sure you have found your rhythm at work.\u00a0 You may even be starting to feel that healthy pleasure that comes from mastering new techniques […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n