Dear Parishioner,

At this time of year many of us are thinking about the summer holidays. When I was a boy, at this time of year I remember our parish priest used to say that “God does not take a holiday from us”. I hope we will worship him in our leisure as much as in our work. Sometimes holidays periods bring their own pressures. We can be thrown more together with each other in our families, parents can find that the children get under their feet and look for activities to keep them occupied. We sometimes feel tempted to be more selfish when we are at leisure and forget that some people are working very hard for us. Mothers, particularly, can feel under greater pressure at this time than any other time of the year (except Christmas, maybe!). 

     Thinking of the pressure that parents can be under during the holidays the Gospel this week might be provocative.  We may feel that Martha’s complaint is justified – many of us have felt at one time or another that we seem to be working on or own and what are the others doing? We must realise that Jesus loved Martha and Mary equally, but Jesus is saying that Mary has taken the better part by sitting and listening him. The point is that we need to listen to Jesus first to know what we should do. Family prayer is one way of taking up the Lord’s teaching in this Gospel. If we have a bit more time for leisure it is a good thing to make a bit more time for prayer.

      I am sure we will not be just praying about ourselves and our families. There are so many conflicts around the world at present – over fifty in fact! We cannot claim to be followers of Christ if we are indifferent the suffering even of those whom we do not know personally. We may feel we cannot do anything practical, but we can remember their situations in our prayers. At the root of all conflict is fear and hatred. We are constantly told that we need to oppose hatred with love, and so we do. We ask God to take away our fear, knowing of his love for us. We should always realize Jesus wants to be part of the solution to problems despite our weaknesses. Let us take him up on his offer.

Yours in Christ,

D. Timothy Gorham OSB