Episode Transcript
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In English speaking cultures, and similarly
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in many other cultures as well,
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we have a standardised greeting.
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“How are you”, we say,'
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and the other responds,
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“well thanks”.
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Yet I notice, increasingly that people respond to my greeting
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with a single word.
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They are no longer 'well'
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but rather, 'busy'.
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“Martha, Martha”, Jesus says to her,
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“you worry and fret about so many things, yet few are needed,
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indeed only one”.
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I suspect, Jesus might well say the same thing to us
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in our overly busy and distracted world.
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There are many things which distract us from that
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which is most important.
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These often present themselves as obligations;
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Martha would have felt ‘obligated’ to offer Jesus some kind of hospitality.
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But Jesus didn’t come for the food,
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He wants to spend time with Martha and Mary.
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Jesus also wants to spend time with us.
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He invites us to sit at His feet,
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the classic posture of a disciple, learning from the teacher.
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By meditating on the scriptures,
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spending time in prayer
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and by regular spiritual reading we can spend time with Jesus,
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learning from Him.
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Above all, it is in the Eucharist we sit at the feet of Jesus
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and encounter His ongoing presences in our lives.
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Time spent with Jesus is never wasteful nor indulgent.
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Its no dereliction of duty!
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It’s true, that prayer must be lived
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in the midst of the other important duties in our lives.
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When we give it priority however,
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prayer allows us to find the perspective needed
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to balance the rest of life’s demands.
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Let us always remember that
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the one truly necessary thing is to spend time with Jesus,
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to learn from Him.
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He alone has the words which lead us to eternal life.
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Let us make that, above all else,
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the true priority in our lives.
