“There is need of only one thing.” // Luke 10:42
I don’t know about you, but I can sometimes completely relate to Martha, who heard our Lord Jesus say to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things” (Luke 10:41). Under the intense pressure of full-time school, work in my community’s mission, and other responsibilities, I had to learn how to optimize my waking hours and organize my energy. This was all so I could still have time for prayer and other basic things. Although I would rush into prayer and often promptly fall asleep because I was worn out by the day, I still went because He was and is the one thing—“There is need of only one thing” (Luke 10:42).
Sister, I venture to guess He is also your “one thing.” That’s probably why you are reading this devotion and participating in this beautiful, amazing community of women!
Yet why do you and I still sometimes find ourselves in the absolute throes of anxiety? What is the remedy? Repenting and turning to God for mercy. Jesus told Saint Faustina, “Do not lose heart in coming to me for pardon. For I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy” (Diary, 1488).
Sister, may we never tire of returning to our place of refuge—His Most Sacred Heart. Just as Jesus found refuge and a place of rest in the home of Bethany with His closest friends (Mary, Martha, and Lazurus) whose feast we celebrate today, so too, Jesus wants us to go to Him and rest.
It can be hard to humble ourselves like this again and again. God knows this. This is why He gave us an overflowing treasury of help through our Holy Mother the Church. Spend some time today with the Lord, your one thing, today. Avail yourself of the Sacrament of Confession. Dwell with Him in His Eucharistic presence. Let His loving presence within your soul from the moment of your Baptism fill your whole being. Ask Him to be your one thing again.
Maria Kim-Ngân Bùi, after twenty years in religious life, is discerning a call to found a community of consecrated religious women dedicated to Our Lady and who will pray reparation for sins against the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, pray for conversions, and work for the evangelization of those who have left the Church or feel furthest from the Church.
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