PRAY AND WORK - 7/17/22 (Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Luke 10:41-42

“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.”  

For the full readings, click here: 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071722.cfm

For the examination of conscience and guide to confession, click here:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

For more information on how to pray the rosary, click here:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/the-most-holy-rosary/

Blessed Sunday! Contemplatives and religious orders have a motto, which can be derived from St. Benedict, and this motto is "ora et labora." This means, "pray and work." We may think that this motto just seems easy as if we have a little time to pray, then we have most of the time to do any work. But, this is a short motto which means more. God is reminding us that in everything we do, we should always pray and work while being aware of the presence of the Lord. This motto is not just exclusive to religious people. Even for lay people, we can learn from it, especially in relation to the gospel reading about St. Martha and St. Mary Magdalene. 

The life of St. Martha shows us the importance of our work and of our service to the Lord. When Jesus visited the village, He was immediately welcomed by St. Martha. In the same way, we should be diligent in our work, even in little things like our chores. The work that God has given to us are the means by which we can serve Him as we help and serve our loved ones. However, there may be a tendency for us to be too focused on it and be anxious as a result. St. Mary Magdalene was resting in the presence of God and listening to Him. And yet, St. Martha complained because she was not helping her. She was unable to see that St. Mary Magdalene was doing the better part, and that's to be with the Lord. 

Sometimes, we can be like St. Martha. We may complain and choose not to pray because we seem to be so busy with our work and other things. But, what we think is better for us may not actually be good for us. Just as a life of prayer without any work or chore is bad, a life that is full of work with little to no prayer is bad as well. What's better in the eyes of God is for us to be reminded of His presence in everything we do, both in our prayers and our work. After all, our Lord never leaves us because of His love for us. We just need to be constantly aware that God is truly here, and He dwells within us. What are some practical ways to always be aware of God's presence in our work and prayer? 

We should remember to always be faithful to God's will and commandments even while we are at work. It is an unfortunate reality that some of our co-workers may influence us to sin while we are at our work or while we are resting. Some examples include gossipping at someone, speaking of negative words, tempting us with impure things and many more. While we are in the state of grace, our hearts praise the Lord, but we cease doing it when we fall to grave sins. To be faithful to God at every moment of our lives by avoiding sin is a sign that we are aware that God sees all of our actions. Another way is by having a prayer schedule that can be integrated in our daily lives. 

There are times when we are not interested in making time for our prayers or in adding other spiritual activities throughout the day. We may be so anxious of our work as if we make an assumption that there is no time in our prayers. All we need to do is to trust the Lord and be really open to Him. When we reflect on our daily routine in the state of prayer, we may see that we consume many hours doing things that are not really that productive such as spending too much time on our phones, TV, social media and internet. Although having recreation is good to be relaxed, God is reminding us to not use that as a reason to neglect the importance of prayers. Let's ask the Lord to help us in our discernment as to how we can give up on things that do not really matter that much to give more time for prayers like the rosary, scriptural reading, examination of conscience and many more. 

Lastly, we can pray even while we are working. This is one specific way for us to serve the Lord and be present with Him in our little ways. Before starting our work, we can pray to the Lord for His guidance, and after finishing our work or studies, we can give thanks to God who gives us the grace to finish such tasks. Even in simple chores, the saints advocated the idea of making short prayers such as the "Hail Mary '' prayer and other prayers as well provided that they will not be hindrance in our time. There are also some activities which are not tiring to our mind such as washing the dishes and other chores. God is pleased if we use this time to reflect on our sins and listen to Him on our resolutions to avoid the temptations in the future. Let's not be worried if at first, being more united with our Lord seems to be difficult. He is our Merciful Savior who will gently lead us to His will which is always for our better. He is inviting us to take things one at a time, and by the grace of God, we will be eager to serve Him in faith, hope and love. 

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

 

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic