Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
July 22, 2025
Hello Everyone –
When you were sitting in church this past Sunday listening as Luke’s Gospel was proclaimed, with whom did you find yourself rooting for — Martha or Mary?
At the least, this story brings us face to face with two messages — one of hospitality, i.e., of the primacy of human relationships in the busyness of life — and one of the refusal to allow culture and external kinds of things to decide for us who we are going to be and what we will stand for as a person. With typical simplicity, Luke places the personalities of these two women in a very practical setting and invites us to think deeply about what matters in our relationships with each other and what matters in our sense of our own vocation in life.
With that said, for some reason, it was the character of Mary who caught my attention this season. She is found to be sitting at the feet of Jesus in the classical posture of a disciple. Of course, in the culture of her day, a woman would never assume that posture. A woman would never be the disciple of a master — someone responsible and committed to carrying out his work after he died. So, in this case, Martha was doing what was right according to the prescriptions of the day.
Nonetheless, what other people thought Mary should be listening to — what other people thought she should be doing — what other people thought she should be all about — was not as important as what she really wanted for herself. Mary desires communion. She is entering into a personal relationship. Mary is being who she is. She is transcending barriers. Mary is simply being herself, her deepest and best self. Mary has chosen the better part for herself, and it cannot be taken from her. Let’s face it — she took a stand, sitting at the feet of Jesus.
When reflecting on this particular Gospel, someone else came to the forefront of my reflection, namely Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau was an American author and naturalist who chose to live for two years in a shack in Maine. And what did he do during those years? He planted a vegetable garden — read books — observed nature.
But sometimes he did nothing at all. Thoreau wrote, “Sometimes on a summer morning I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon — rapt in reverie — amidst the pines — in undisturbed solitude and stillness — while the birds sang around me.
“What fruits did I reap from this you may ask? I grew in those seasons like corn in the night. Those years were not time subtracted from my life — but added so much more over and above my usual allowance. You see, it is not enough to be industrious — ants are industrious. The question becomes: What are you industrious about?”
Thoreau concluded: “Fear not that your life will end — rather fear that it may never have begun.”
Where do you find yourself on your own walk with Christ? What’s your posture? Has the journey even begun?
As I do for you, please pray for me,
Most Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob
Archbishop of Milwaukee
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