Prayer as Steering Wheel

In one of my visits to the sick and elderly parishioners one day, I stopped by the home of Boy Mendoza. He used to be a devoted Eucharistic Minister of Holy Communion in the Parish in his younger years and an active Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) organizer in the Areas. Today, his health has become his cross. For almost twenty years he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. In the last five years he could not walk; his senses of hearing and talking had diminished greatly. I must have come at a wrong time because his wife, Cecille, was doing the laundry. She had to dress him up hurriedly so that I can hear his confession then receive the anointing of the sick. Yet, to my surprise, Cecille was very accommodating. When I was done, she had prepared omelet and slice bread for snacks. She even entertained me and my companions by joining our conversation. She was both a Martha and a Mary to her guests.

John narrates, in today’s gospel (Lk 10:38-42), the story of Martha and Mary from Bethany. Martha might have been the head of the household because she was busy with all the details of hospitality. Welcoming Jesus and his entourage involved considerable preparation. Amidst her busy-ness, Mary simply sat at Jesus’ feet. Certainly, Jesus appreciated Martha’s service; but there was something more important which Mary had chosen. Mary recognized that Jesus had come not to be fed but to feed. The hospitality he was seeking was their time, their attention, their friendship and their love. Mary understood this as she wasted her time with Jesus. At that moment only Jesus really mattered. She simply gave her fullest attention and love to him.

The story of Martha and Mary invites us to set and balance our priorities. We need to balance work and prayer; action and contemplation. While we need to work and earn our living, we need to realize the primacy of God in our lives. Many times we tire ourselves doing the work of God that we forget the God of the work. We are misled into thinking that prayer steals space away from our activities and apostolate. We make the excuse that prayer becomes a waste of time. We fail to understand that for our love to keep burning and our principles to remain strong and consistent we need to keep our connection with God through prayer. We need to make prayer the steering wheel of our life, not its spare tire.

Prayer: Lord, guide me to put you always at the center of my life by making prayer my life’s steering wheel, not its spare tire. Amen.