As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary (who) sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." (Lk 10:38-42)
Though Jesus on his way to Jerusalem, he does not mind breaking his journey to meet his friends and spending some time with them. He chooses Bethany as one of his stop-over. Bethany (= house of the poor) was a place where the poor lived. Jesus associates with the poor and his friends are from among the poor.
Two sisters, one is busy with preparing food for the family and friend while the other is spending time with the friend. Preparing food is as important as spending time with the friend. Probably Martha would also like to spend time with Jesus as Mary is doing.
I wonder why Jesus says that Mary has chosen the better part since both are equally important. Does Jesus indirectly say that ‘man does not live on bread alone but from the word of God implying that he was discussing with her the word of God? For Jesus, every visit or every meeting is opportunity to communicate God and word of God.
