Friends, welcome to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

Word on Fire is an apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization,

using media both old and new to share the faith on every continent

and to facilitate an encounter with Christ and His Church.

The efforts of Word on Fire engage the culture and bring the transformative

power of God's Word where it is most needed. Today, we invite you to join Bishop Robert Barron

as he preaches the gospel and shares the warmth and light of Christ with each one of us.

This little story of Markle of Christ with each one of us. This little story of Martha and Mary, which is our gospel for today, has a way of getting

into people's minds and getting stuck in their cross, too. Many people over the years,

most of them women, have complained to me about this story. Most

defending Martha against what they take to be an unfair assessment on the part of Jesus.

But it's a story I found that just bugs people and they ask a lot of questions about it.

And it's a very simple, very short, very simple story, but it gets into people's

hearts. And over the centuries, it's been interpreted in a whole variety of ways.

Let me just offer you three different takes, three different angles on this story.

There's a very old tradition that associates this story with the active life and the contemplative life.

So Martha, who's worried about all the details of hospitality, she's bustling around the kitchen, preparing dinner.

She's seen as symbolic of the active life, all those people in the life of the church who are actively engaged in ministry,

etc. Mary, who sits quietly at the feet of Jesus listening, stands for the contemplative life.

Think of all the monks and nuns and scholars and contemplatives who spend their lives in quiet

consideration of the things of God.

Now, when Jesus says to her without Mary, you've chosen the better part. It won't be denied.

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