The Intersection of Martha and Mary

Some of the most focused, peace-filled moments I have experienced during my time at Notre Dame have been during finals week.

During finals week, the pressure of countless time commitments that push us forward at a sometimes relentless pace typically vanish. There are no classes to attend, few meetings, and limited activities: studying is our only task. The finals week before winter break is coated by the sweetness of Christmas being right around the corner, and campus is usually blanketed in a thick layer of soft, quiet snow that muffles noises of would-be hustle and bustle: the atmosphere invites peace to come over campus.

There is also something extremely satisfying about camping out on the eleventh floor of the Hesburgh library tower armed with a backpack full of books and snacks to crank out work in preparation for essays and exams.

So where do the wonderful moments come in in the midst of the finals grind?

In traversing back and forth from the library and noticing beauty. In taking a study break to grab a chai latte with a friend to talk about anything but finals. In doing extra things like cleaning my room and exercising and performing a quick random act of kindness just for the sake of feeling like a real human outside of the academic realm. And in approaching finals week intentionally. Prayerfully.

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In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visits two sisters named Martha and Mary. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet as He speaks, listening to Him intently and simply being still in His presence. Meanwhile, Martha, the host, is “distracted by her many tasks,” frustrated by her sister’s unwillingness to help her (Luke 10:40). Jesus informs Martha that Mary has “chosen the better” of the two routes of hosting Him, through her simple presence with Him.

Sometimes I feel a lot like Martha during the school year. I feel as though I am often running from place to place around campus, bouncing from one thing to another without leaving much time to rest or pray in the midst of it all. I hear similar sentiments from friends quite frequently. But I can relate to Mary, too, in her desire simply to sit with the Lord and to listen to Him. I think a big indication of the Mary-like tendency on campus is the particularly large glow emitted from the candles at the Grotto during busy times such as midterms or finals weeks. A late-night visit to the Grotto this past Sunday demonstrated this very trend: students arriving back from Thanksgiving break flocked to the Grotto to re-center and re-connect in preparation for a busy couple of upcoming weeks. We are drawn to the silence of prayer when the world around us is loud.

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Though Martha often receives criticism for her refusal to put down the tasks she is working on, she demonstrates hospitality through service to her family and to Jesus as she cooks and cleans. There is much value in hard work when it is offered up as a prayer (I blogged about this earlier this semester!). But when we find that we are becoming too wrapped up in worldly tasks and not spending time simply being in the presence of Christ, we are called back to being like Mary, refraining from being “worried and distracted by many things” so that we might feel joy and peace in Christ alone (Luke 10:41).

I want to encourage our campus to take these last few weeks of the semester – these sometimes-hectic days between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks – to find the intersection of Martha and Mary. In one of my theology classes this semester, I recently learned that there is a place for both of their ways to the Lord in our lives. It is in working hard at the library in preparation for finals but in appreciating the peace of the Grotto on the way home that we can start to do this. It is in offering studying and reading and writing and grinding away on projects as prayers, inviting God into these tasks, that we can embrace the positive parts of the example Martha sets. It is in attending Mass and Adoration and engaging in personal reflection and prayer that we will seek what Mary saw. It is in finding the intersection between both of these ways of prayer that we will maintain faith and hope.