> [[341-spiritual-paternity-and-maternity|← 341. Spiritual Paternity and Maternity]] | [[-divine-intimacy-toc|TOC]] | [[343-our-duties|343. Our Duties →]] --- # 342. Martha and Mary PRESENCE OF GOD - Grant, O Lord, that I may love You with the heart of Mary, while serving You with the devotedness of Martha. ## Meditation 1 There are two great attractions in a soul which has given itself seriously to God: the attraction to solitary, silent prayer where, immersed in God, the soul listens to His voice, penetrates His mysteries, and above all unites itself more intimately with Him; and correspondingly, the attraction to the [[apostolate|Apostolate]], to active, generous sacrifice for the salvation of souls. To recollect itself in God “the soul would like to flee from other people, and greatly envies those who live, or have lived, in deserts. On the other hand, it would like to plunge right into the heart of the world, to see if by doing this it could help one soul to praise God more” ([[teresa-of-avila-saint|T.J.]] Int C VI, 6). Such is the double movement of charity which, fusing the love of God and the love of neighbor into one and the same love, urges the soul equally to union with God and to the service of its neighbor. If one of these movements is lacking, charity will not be complete. The development of the interior life requires this double attraction which is both a sign and a means of progress; it is at the same time, a torment for the soul that has not yet found the just mean between the two tendencies. To which of the two will it give the preference? To action or to contemplation? In practice, the problem must be solved on the basis of the requirements and the duties of one’s state in life, the directions of obedience, and the particular circumstances permitted by God. A desire for contemplative prayer which distracts, or withdraws the soul from the fulfillment of duty would not be in conformity with the will of God; God has every right to ask us to renounce such a desire, that He may send us to serve our neighbor. Magdalen rejoiced when she finally found Jesus, her Risen Lord; she longed to remain at His feet, but He commanded her: “Go to My brethren” (Jn 20,17); and she, with docility, left Him to announce His Resurrection. On the other hand, the contrary is also true. Jesus said to His Apostles on their return from preaching: “Come apart into a desert place and rest a little” (Mk 6,31), thereby inviting them to suspend their apostolic activity and to reinvigorate their spirit in silence and in prayer, alone with Him. The best way, which steers a middle course deviating neither to right nor left, is always the way of duty, of the will of God, of interior inspiration, under the guidance of one who has the authority to direct the soul. ## Meditation 2 To harmonize interiorly this double attraction to the active [[apostolate|Apostolate]] and to union with God in prayer, there is need of a deeper solution, one which can come only from the interior. This solution consists in a greater progress in the interior life leading to an ever greater degree of love. Love is the only root from which blossom both action and contemplation; it is the only force which, nourishing these two activities simultaneously, finally succeeds in blending them into perfect harmony, thus enabling them to bear the best fruit. Springing from the same stem of an advanced love, action and contemplation are fused only in perfect love. Perfect charity makes the soul, while recollected in contemplation at the feet of the Lord, more operative and fruitful than ever for the good of others. “A very little of this pure love” (solitary love which flourishes in intimate contact with God) “is more precious in the sight of God and the soul, and of greater profit to the Church, even though the soul appear to be doing nothing, than are all other works together.... Therefore,” declares St. John of the Cross, “if any soul should have aught of this degree of solitary love, great wrong would be done to it and to the Church, if, even for a brief space, one should endeavor to busy it in active or outward affairs of however great moment” (SC 29,2.3). In the regions of pure love, that is, of perfect charity, contemplation and the [[apostolate|Apostolate]] become identified; they complete and require one another. At this point, the contemplative soul is eminently apostolic. Its greatest activity for the benefit of its fellow men is precisely its solitary prayer, nourished by love, sacrifice and immolation. On the other hand, the soul occupied in apostolic works becomes, through perfect charity, more contemplative, more united to God than ever. Love has so fixed the soul in God that, even during work, its interior gaze is always turned toward Him, to nourish itself with His divine presence, to reflect in its own conduct His infinite perfections, and to govern itself at all times according to His good pleasure. Thus at the summit of the spiritual life, action and contemplation become fused in perfect unity and harmony. “Believe me,” wrote St. Teresa of Avila, “Martha and Mary must work together when they offer the Lord lodging, and must have Him ever with them, and they must not entertain Him badly and give Him nothing to eat...His food consists in our bringing Him souls, in every possible way, so that they may be saved and may praise Him forever” ([[teresa-of-avila-saint|T.J.]] Int C VII, 4). From this we can understand how all the great contemplatives were at the same time great apostles, and the great apostles, great contemplatives. ## Colloquy “O Lord, the desire to listen to Your divine Word, the need to be silent is sometimes so strong that I would wish not to know how to do anything else save to remain at Your feet, like Magdalen, in order to penetrate ever more deeply into that mystery of love which You came to reveal to us. But You teach me that if the soul never separates itself from You, it can always remain absorbed in contemplation, even though apparently it is carrying out Martha’s functions. In this way, O Lord, I intend and wish to exercise my [[apostolate|Apostolate]]: I shall radiate You, I shall give You to souls, provided I do not separate myself from You, O divine Source. Help me, sweet Master, to come very near You, to commune with Your Soul, to identify myself with all Your operations, and then to go forth like You to do the Father’s will. “What a wonderful influence over souls has the apostle who never leaves the source of living waters! Grant me, O Lord, to be one of these. Then the spring of water will fill my soul and overflow it without danger of its becoming empty, for it will find itself in continual communication with You, the Infinite. “My God, deign to invade all the faculties of my soul; grant that everything within me may become divine and marked with Your seal, so that I may be another Christ working for Your glory. “Lord, how I long to labor for Your glory! I long to give myself entirely to You, to be serraded by Your divine life; be the life of my life, the soul of my soul, and grant that I may always remain under the influence of Your divine action” (E.T. L). --- ## Reference Int C - [[tj-interior-castle-ccel|Interior Castle]] # References SC - [[jc-s-canticle-toc|Spiritual Canticle by Saint John of the Cross]] T.J. - [[teresa-of-avila-saint|Saint Teresa of Avila]] Int C - [[tj-interior-castle-ccel|Interior Castle (Mansions) by Saint Teresa of Avila]] --- ![[bibliography#^biblio-di]] > [[341-spiritual-paternity-and-maternity|← 341. Spiritual Paternity and Maternity]] | [[-divine-intimacy-toc|TOC]] | [[343-our-duties|343. Our Duties →]]