Mary and Martha
Read the Gospel story at
http://biblia.com/books/esv/Lk10.38-42
This Trinity Sunday, we do well to remember the words of Christ to Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). It is not our natural inclination to make a choice like Mary, to sit in rapt attention at the feet of Jesus.
Instead, we have Christian work that must be done, and such work may be good and helpful, but more often than not, we take the adoration and contemplation of God as Triune to be (at most) irrelevant to ‘real life’ or ‘real ministry’.
Yet the Lord Himself is urging us to choose the “better part,” which is found by quieting the noise in our soul, and to contemplate and adore God.
Only then can our hearts be reshaped and prepared for the secondary (and necessary) call to bear witness to the God we have come to know.
We can now see how, for Augustine (St Augustine), the contemplation of the Holy Trinity results in the change of a person’s heart. He posits that it is by the “eye of the mind” that one beholds the form of eternal truth, which is the form or standard by which all things are known. Such a “true knowledge of things” can be described as a word that is uttered in the innermost part of one’s being, which then manifests itself in the thoughts, acts, and speech of a person. However, the word that is uttered at the core of one’s soul is either directed toward the love of the “…creature or the creator, that is of changeable nature or unchangeable truth.”
Quoted from Patheos.– (highlighted text my own emphasis)
image@http://www.prca.org/books/portraits/august.htm
Excellent information on St Augustine of HippoTo be able to do the Lord’s work I must first sit at his feet and adore him, only then can I go out and serve him in my daily words and actions.
To be able to do the Lord’s work I must first sit at his feet and adore him, only then can I go out and serve Him daily through words and actions. Thank you Lord for the example of Mary and Martha! It is at Mass where we get the opportunity to quiet the noise in our soul, and to contemplate and adore God. It is at Mass that I strive most to be like Mary, sitting at the feet of our Lord Jesus, wanting to learn from Him; to hear the message He has for me and to take this with me through the busyness of the week ahead in order to share His message of love in all that I say and do.
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It is at Mass every week where we recite the Creed as one and in unison to declare our faith in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday, also known as Holy Trinity Sunday, is celebrated a week after Pentecost in honour of the most fundamental of Christian beliefs—belief in the Holy Trinity. We can never fully understand the mystery of the Trinity, but we can sum it up in the following formula: God is three Persons in one Nature. The three Persons of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are all equally God, and They cannot be divided.
To stress the doctrine of the Trinity, other Fathers of the Church composed prayers and hymns that were recited in the Church’s liturgies and on Sundays as part of the Divine Office, the official prayer of the Church. Eventually, a special version of this office began to be celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost, and the Church in England, at the request of St. Thomas à Becket (1118-1170), was granted permission to celebrate Trinity Sunday. The celebration of Trinity Sunday was made universal by Pope John XXII (1316-34).
The Martyrdom of Thomas Becket (118-1170)
I believe in on God, the Father almighty
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
1catholicsalmon 