Today’s Gospel reading tells the familiar story of Martha and Mary welcoming Jesus into their home. Martha, who is busy serving, becomes frustrated when her sister Mary spends the whole time sitting with Jesus and listening to him, rather than helping. When she vents her irritation to Jesus, He responds, “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” (Luke 10: 41-42).

My first memory of this story is with one of my college friends. She used to tell me that I shouldn’t get stressed over details, but instead should trust that God has a plan and everything will work out: “Don’t be a Martha—be a Mary!” I’ll be honest…I hated that advice. And as a result, I avoided revisiting this gospel story for a long time. Maybe I resented that interpretation because I’m an older sister who was often the “responsible one” growing up. Maybe I felt challenged because I am naturally a detail-oriented person. Mostly, I think I rejected the idea that I—or anyone—was either a Martha or a Mary, or even that one of the sisters was better than the other.

The thing is, I genuinely find fulfillment in the details and in serving others. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I was one of many public health students who jumped into action. I volunteered to manage the database for a large epidemiological study, a project that quickly grew as the pandemic continued to spread. The knowledge that I was filling an important need motivated me even when the workload became intense. Similarly, when it comes to faith, I’ve always felt the most connected to God through actions—service, community, and the rituals of Mass—rather than solitary prayer.

But sometimes, like Martha, I get burned out. As I get farther along in my dissertation, work that once excited me now feels like a huge burden; and some days, I can barely motivate myself to get started. And as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers on and, for the safety of others, we stay away from church, I find it harder to make the effort to reconnect.

Usually when I’m busy and stressed, my instinct is to push through it rather than to slow down or seek advice. It’s lucky, then, that I have an advisor who consistently encourages me to pause and reflect on the goals of my analyses and consider how I would explain the meaning of my work to others. I’m lucky, too, to have a God who says, “You are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.”

Martha wasn’t wrong for serving rather than sitting with Jesus, but for one reason or another, she didn’t feel fulfilled. Jesus reminds Martha, and all of us, to pause in the midst of our business and stress, connect with him, and move forward with a renewed sense of purpose.