Today,
we, —no matter how busy we may be, at times, by so many things—
must also listen to our Lord reminding us that «only one thing
is needed» (Lk 10:42): esteem and saintliness. They
should be our aim, the horizon we must never lose sight of amidst our
daily chores.
Because
we shall be “busy” if we follow our Creator’s plan:
«’Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue
it’» (Gen 1:28). The earth! the world!: this is
our meeting point with the Lord. «My prayer is not that you
take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil
one» (Jn 17:15). Yes, the world is an “altar”
for us and for our donation to God and to the others.
We belong in this
world, but that does not mean we have to be worldly. On the contrary,
we are called to become —in a beautiful expression of His
Holiness John Paul II— “Priests of Creation!”
“priests” of our world, of a world we passionately love.
Here is the question:
world and saintliness; our daily chores and the one and only thing we
truly need. They are not two opposed realities: and we have to try to
make both coincide. And this coincidence must be carried out —in
the first place and basically— in our own heart, where heaven
and earth can be reunited. Because in the human heart is where the
dialogue between Creator and creature takes place.
Therefore,
prayer is necessary. «Ours is a time of continual movement
which often leads to restlessness, with the risk of “doing for
the sake of doing”. We must resist this temptation by trying
“to be” before trying "to do". In this regard
we should recall how Jesus reproved Martha: ‘You are anxious
and troubled about many things; one thing is needful’ (Lk
10:41-42)» (John Paul II).
There
is no opposition between “to be” and “to do”,
but there is indeed a priority order of precedence: «Mary has
chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her»
(Lk 10,42).
