Today, in the Gospel, Jesus praises St. Mary’s choice.  She chooses to listen to Jesus while St. Martha takes care of the house.  He says, “Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Lk 10:42).  So, let’s ponder a philosophical question: Can we have it all?  Can we, for example, be close to God and do what everyone else does?  Can we have a healthy family life, a demanding career, and time for all our hobbies?  During summer, can we rest, go to different places, see everything, watch movies, and save money?

The answer is: We can’t have it all.  We can’t be mentally healthy and doom scroll.  We can’t prioritize family and prioritize our career, because Jesus wants us to prioritize the better part.

Jesus today is showing us the better way, that He’s the better way, and giving the grace to choose Him.  “Now as Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. [The elder sister had this responsibility of hospitality, so she’s doing the right thing] She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. [Both sisters are saints, both doing good actions but, at this moment, listening to Jesus is better than serving Him.] But Martha was distracted by her many tasks” (10:38-40).  The Greek wording lets us know that it’s a fact that there’s too much to do; Martha is not being neurotic (Luke Timothy Johnson, Luke in Sacra Pagina, 173).  Yet, she can’t do it all.  She’s distracted by something good and needs to let it go for something better.

Let’s take a concrete situation: The spiritual master, Fr. Jacques Philippe, says 15 minutes a day of prayer is the minimum for spiritual survival.  However, for some of us, 30, 60, or 90 minutes plus daily Mass are our minimum.  But good things in life block us from getting to this time with Jesus.  Family is the greatest reason because people need us.  Then there’s work, email, things around the house.

So, question: If I were to call you on the phone, wouldn’t you tell your family, ‘Fr. Justin is on the phone’ and give me 15 minutes?  Now, if Deacon Andrew were to call, you wouldn’t answer.  Jesus calls us every day and it’s possible that we give Him 15 minutes because we love Him.

Now, let’s say, during hectic days, we miss our time with Jesus.  So, on our days off or during vacation, do we spend more time with Him then?  If we don’t, it may be because we don’t love Him as much as we’d like.  If that bothers us, it’s because we love Him.

This is why we said last summer that the Sabbath reveals the heart.  I shared that, years ago, I had a revelation: For months, I was so busy serving people that I didn’t have much time to pray.  I never missed daily Mass or the Liturgy of the Hours, but my mental prayer decreased.  My mentors said that that was normal for the season of my life.  However, one Monday, my sabbath, I went through the whole day and still didn’t do my mental prayer.  I realized: The reason was not because I was busy, it was because I didn’t want to pray.  The sabbath revealed my heart, what I really love.  I found time to sleep, eat, do the minimum of prayer, be with other people, but my love for Jesus was poor.  This realization hurt because I do love Jesus; it also helped because I knew what I had to do to show that I love Him.

I’m not saying we have to become monks.  I’m saying you must choose what is the necessary amount of time for your relationship with Jesus, and then choose that above other good things.

“So she [St. Martha] came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?  Tell her then to help me.’ [Commentators agree that she’s accusing or blaming Jesus.  She wants to blame someone else, when Jesus wants her to look inside.] But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things [Repeating a name is a sign of affection.  Jesus understands our difficult lives and loves us]; there is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her’” (10:40-42).

The greatest commandment is not to love our family or other people—that’s the second commandment.  Work is necessary, good, and can be holy, but it’s not the greatest commandment.  What’s the greatest commandment?  Love God.

It feels like I’ve said this a billion times: If we love God first, we won’t love our family less, but love them more.  Think about it this way: Who here struggles with patience with someone in their family?  All of us.  If we were to sneak away from our family and spend time with Jesus, would we come back to our family with more patience or less patience?  When we prioritize Jesus, we love our family more!  But, when we focus on work, hobbies, leisure, we might not come back more patient.  With Jesus, we always come back with more love—this is the ‘one thing’ necessary; ‘the better part’ is love.  When we encounter and choose love, it can’t be taken away!

It’s the Sabbath Summer, our time to rest in Jesus!  Now, I’ve got news: There’s only six weeks left until September.  No!  But, what if they were the best six weeks?  What if we were to prioritize Jesus, then family and rest?  Today we’re loving each other by name, but prioritizing the Mass, and then having some parish family time after.

This summer, the devil will suggest: ‘Do this, do that.’  He will suggest very good things to take us away from Jesus.  Jesus will suggest the one thing, and the fruit will be overflowing love in Him!

We can’t have it all, but we can have the best.  When we choose the better part, Jesus, nothing truly good is taken away, because we have everything in proper order: Jesus, family, health, work, etc.