You have need of only one thing...St. Martha and Mother's Rule of Life Part II

It is the feast of St. Martha, the woman famous for having complained to Our Lord that her sister Mary was not helping with the serving. He tells her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. You have need of only one thing, and Mary has chosen the better part.' We all know the story about how Mary is sitting at the Lord's feet and listening, and therefore, she has chosen the better part, whereas Martha, running around the house, trying to get things done, is too preoccupied to pay much attention to Jesus.

This hearkens back to my recent post about the book 'The Mother's Rule of Life' and my implementation of its principles to my daily life. The key to the Scripture passage about Martha and Mary is not that we should always be in the chapel praying and reading Scripture, but that we should not get so overwhelmed by the housework we have to do that we forget about Jesus, Who is always with us.

One of the most inspiring things about the Mother's Rule of Life for me was that the author, Holly Pierlot, once she began living her Mother's Rule of Life, after awhile no longer had to think about the tasks she was doing because they became second nature. Instead, she was able to offer each task she did for the Lord and she was able to reach heights of contemplation as she did her tasks. She got everything done and had chosen the better part.

This is a great inspiration to me as a homemaker wanting to grow in holiness but still have a well-kept, beautiful home for all who enter, in particular my family. Making all meals and snacks from scratch and keeping on top of housework is time-consuming; a homemaker cannot obviously pray in the chapel all day, however we can be in union with Our Lord while we do these tasks. Though I'd read about saints who thought about God all day long as they did their tasks, I'd never been able to do it myself until I formed and implemented my Rule of Life. When one does not have to think about what to do next from the to-do list, it makes it so much easier to just follow the schedule already laid out and focus one's thoughts on other more important things, such the One Thing, our Lord Jesus Christ.