900,000 kinds of insects, 10,000 species of birds, 73,000 tree species: This Creator loves variety!
Consider any first grade class: one asks for more Math while another dances pencils and erasers like dolls. A freckled, sandy-haired Dennis the Menace grins wickedly besides a solemn girl with dark eyes and hair cascading down her back. One wants to be a paleontologist; another a garbage collector. Truly God who “formed my inmost being; … knit me in my mother’s womb” did so with exquisite care, intending uniqueness.
It’s no different for Martha and Mary. If we look at the sisters dualistically, one’s right, one’s wrong, one’s good, one’s bad. But Jesus delights in each, seeing them contemplatively, without judging. In Martha he smiles at the four-year old snitch: Why can’t she address Mary directly? When we’re honest, we admit there’s much we don’t know about scripture. In this case, we don’t know Jesus’ tone of voice when he seems to rebuke Martha. Nor do we know if he chopped the onions afterwards…
Martha’s turn will come: she’s not defined by her blunt outburst. The sisters’ personalities remain consistent in Luke and John 11. Before he raises Lazarus, Jesus enjoys Martha’s intelligence, one of the few who recognizes his identity, who can discuss the theology of resurrection. Mary at her brother’s tomb says little, but weeps; Jesus weeps with her. He instinctively gives each woman exactly what she needs without labeling or analyzing: “With all [their] ways you are familiar.”
All of us, then: “fearfully, wonderfully made.”
“Calling Each by Name,” from the October 2024 issue of Give Us This Day giveusthisday.org (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2024). Used with permission.
The Grace of Grandparenting
A Day of Prayer for those who Nurture
Led by Kathy Coffey
Let’s celebrate what grandparents do naturally—love the grandkids with God’s own free-from-judgment love, and mirror their beauty. We’ll explore the spirituality that underlies that miraculous process.
Oct. 21—9 to 3
$50 includes lunch
Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz CA
To register: www.vmdm.retreatportal.com
More info: Sister Michelle, vmdm.retreats@snjmuson.org, 204-688-1785
Kathy Coffey 