Our task as modern-day followers of Christ is to strike an equilibrium between Martha’s expression of love through service (though without resentment and anxiousness) and Mary’s expression of love through contemplation. Step 11 gets at this insight: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him (contemplation), praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out (action).”
At one point in my recovery, in a similar way to Martha (though in the opposite direction), I developed a sort of mystical delusion, thinking I had reached complete and final unity with God through constant prayer. However, it was a true “spiritual sinkhole,” as one of my directors called it, and an example of focusing too much on one aspect of the Christian life at the expense of the other. Eventually, I learned to embrace the importance of doing small actions in union with prayer, even in the most ordinary ways, one day at a time. Our daily demands and invitations to service, regardless of our station in life, are ultimately ways for us to grow closer to God. When we combine a life of contemplation with action, we invite God into our every moment, growing in love and avoiding, by His grace, relapse.
Reflection Questions
- How do you balance prayer and service in your spiritual life? How do you do so in your recovery?
- Do you ever feel burned out in your recovery? What tends to cause this and what steps help bring you back into right relationship with God?
Daily Mass Readings
First Reading: Galatians 1:13-24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 139:1B-3, 13-14AB, 14C-15
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
Reflection by Karen B.