After a full year of holy anticipation, Lent Madness returns for another season of saintly thrills and spills! Whether this is your tenth year engaging in the annual saintly smackdown or your first, we're delighted you'll be spending a portion of your Lenten journey among us. Along the way there will be debates, ire, angst, rejoicing, laughter, and holy trash talking. Just remember, it’s all in the spirit of this holy season specifically set aside to grow closer to God through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
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But mostly, we encourage you to read about the 32 saintly souls participating in this year's edition of Lent Madness, faithfully cast your (single!) vote on the weekdays of Lent, and add your comments to the great cloud of participating witnesses that gathers as the online Lent Madness community each year.
Lent Madness 2019, or Lent Madness X as we've been calling it, kicks off with a battle between two Biblical heavyweights as we settle, once and for all, the age old question: Mary vs. Martha. And before you say it, of course it's not fair! It's not called Lent Madness for nothing.
So, hang onto your halos, friends, and prepare yourselves for another wild ride of saintly action. Away we go!
Mary of Bethany
Mary of Bethany lived in first-century Bethany with her sister, Martha, and her brother, Lazarus, as we are told in the Gospel of Luke. Along with her siblings, she was among the very first to believe in Jesus.
Luke recounts the famous story of Jesus having supper at the sisters’ house, where Martha, concerned with getting the food on the table, asks Jesus to scold Mary for her apparent lack of concern. It’s notable that Mary is described as sitting at Jesus’ feet while Martha serves; usually only the male students of rabbis sat at the feet of their teachers. For Mary to do so is highly unusual for an unmarried woman—possibly why Martha gets antsy about it. But Jesus declines to chide Mary for what she has done, declaring that in her discipleship, she has “chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The Gospel of John also gives us a few more glimpses of Mary of Bethany. John explicitly links Mary with the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her hair. At Lazarus’s death, both Mary and Martha race out into the street to greet Jesus when he finally comes, and Mary chastises him, echoing her sister’s words, saying “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” At her declaration, Jesus is moved to tears.
It is clear that Jesus is quite close with this family. Through contextual clues, we can tell that the family must have been fairly well-to-do, given the sisters’ independent status and ability to support Jesus’ ministry. They seem to own their house and are able to provide a separate burial site for their brother (somewhat rare—and not cheap.). We also have John’s story of Mary spending more than 300 denarii (equivalent to 300 days of wage for a laborer) on pure spikenard to anoint Jesus.
Later church tradition treated Mary as it treated many of the other women of the gospel; it elided her story into that of an Everywoman who is remarkable mostly in her blandness. The few stories that survive in the West often conflate her with Mary Magdalene. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, her uniqueness survives, and with her sister and Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany is remembered on the third Sunday of Easter as one of the Myrrh-Bearing Women—the first to recognize the risen Christ.
Collect for Mary of Bethany
O God, heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Martha of Bethany
The iconic Martha of Bethany is the hero of faithful pragmatics and doers, though she gets a bad rap for being less contemplative than her sister. When Jesus visits her house, Mary sits at his feet, but Martha feels the burdens of her role as hostess and works in the kitchen, resentful that Mary isn’t helping. When she complains, the Lord answers, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted about many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” Because of this anecdote, Martha is seen to symbolize worldly concerns while her sister Mary focuses on the spiritual. When Jesus asks someone to open the tomb of her days-dead brother Lazarus, the heartbroken Martha stays true to her practical nature, responding, “Lord, already there is a stench.”
Although not expressly mentioned in the gospels, the Orthodox tradition honors both Martha and Mary as among the followers of Jesus who stood at Golgotha to witness the crucifixion, and later carried myrrh to his tomb to anoint the body. Thus they are counted among the first witnesses of the resurrection. This tradition also holds that Martha fled persecution in Judea with Lazarus, joining him as a missionary abroad until he became a bishop in Cyprus, where all three siblings eventually died.
According to the Golden Legend, a medieval hagiography (writing about the lives of the saints), the siblings were of noble birth. Martha put her aristocratic hostess skills to use for Jesus because, “She thought that all the world was not sufficient to serve such a guest.” The same legend holds that the family arrived in France miraculously via a ship without oars or sails to preach the gospel. The eminently practical Martha tamed a Galician dragon, “half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than a horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent.” Afterward Martha lived a life of daily devotion in France until she died. A tomb in the Collegiate Church of Tarascon purportedly contains her relics.
Martha’s feast day is July 29, and she is patron saint of cooks, dietitians, domestic help, housekeepers, servants, and waitpersons. And of course, she is admired by pragmatics, doers, and practitioners of common sense.
Collect for Martha of Bethany
O God, heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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537 comments on “Mary of Bethany vs. Martha of Bethany”
Amen to Martha who says her prayers while washing dishes! Go Martha!
They both are needed. They are both gifted and talented in different ways. Both have accepted Christ's invitation in different ways.
I voted for Mary because she grasped the importance of being with Jesus rather than acting as a servant. First Feminist? Also she splurged on the best and most expensive oil to anoint Jesus. Very selfless!
If I ever took vows, I would change my name to Sister Martha
Really??? REALLY??? You had pit two sisters against each other in the first round?? LOL! I had to vote for Mary because I've always admired her priorities. Besides, I'm a Mary. Oh well, no matter who wins, they are both deserving and I love this dynamic duo.
I voted for Martha because her story speaks to my own struggle between wanting to be of service to God and taking time to listen to God.
I love that dragon that Martha is supposed to have "tamed." Hagiographies are so imaginative! Did she name him Puff? What do you do with a tame dragon like that? Take him to parties?
So pleased - and surprised by Martha’s lead over Mary! In my voting choice, I focused on not the either/or of the ladies, but their yin and yang qualities. Weren’t they two halves of a whole?
Also, I sensed that in Jesus’s support of Mary wasn’t a summary criticism of Martha. I hear it as an encouragement to not interfere in another’s faith journey by judging and attempting to mold another person’s beliefs so it fits my own sensibilities.
Grateful for fresh insights!
I've always thought Martha was treated unfairly. Someone has to fix the food! I remember the hurt of being treated as helper in the kitchen while it seemed as if everyone else was having fun and taking me for granted. Would Jesus really have wanted himself and all his company to go without food? I picture Martha listening from the wings - not ignoring what was being said, but wishing she could participate like her sister.
As a thurifer (knowing full well that Spikenard is the BEST-smelling incense we unfortunately only use at funerals and Good Friday...) I had to go for Mary.
Our culture appreciates action more than learning and thinking. Once again, following Jesus is counter-cultural. Voting for Mary!
Would that we were all like Mary, but I voted for Martha because she made human mistakes and was chastised by Jesus and forgiven--and isn't that a good lesson for us all.
My vote goes to Mary. I'm Mary "incarnate" as my gift of hospitality nurtures the spiritual side of life. While we often favor one side of the hospitality coin, we are all lost without both Mary and Martha in our lives.
This is my fourth or fifth year in Lent Madness, and this was one of the hardest votes I've faced. It would have been easier to have Mary and Martha vs somebody else (or some other pair). Even the two collects were the same! It's hard to overlook Jesus saying Mary had chosen the better part. But Martha was so insightful and full of faith at the death of Lazarus. Contemplatives tend to lose in Lent Madness. But people often object to strange beast stories (that doesn't seem to have been the case today, however!). Mary was a gender-role rebel. Martha took care of everybody. What a choice! I eventually went with Martha.
I was surprised that Martha, my favorite, has so many fans. In the early days of my faith, I liked Mary and thought Martha was just one if those persons who focus on the setting and not the content of the faith. I later came to see that a lot of Mary's were more talk than action. Over the years I have become more "Marta" than"Mary."
Mary is a badass. She's right there with Mary the mother of Jesus in clearly and openly bucking the tradition, she along with Deborah and Huldah made room for all of us to be scholars and leaders. She is near and dear to me. Team Mary!
Definitely Martha. I love Mary, but without Martha, nothing would ever get done. But I love Mary’s desire to contemplate and learn from Jesus, too. Actually both are needed. They should only come as a pair - Saint “M&M” !
I'm a Martha. I sometimes wish I was a Mary, but realize my calling is to do the work. I feel more akin to faith in action, then a contemplative life. Therefore, I'm voting for Martha.
I can identify more with Martha, but a personal challenge for me is that I strive to emulate Mary more than I do currently. So I'm voting for Mary. Sorry, Martha.
Why didn't the disciples help in the kitchen? Heck, why didn't Jesus lend a hand in the kitchen while he taught? I never liked this gospel passage. Go Martha! No, actually, sit down and take a rest, Martha, we'll wash the dishes for you.
Voted for Martha, as today is my mother's birthday...Martha would have been 107 today. My sister Mary comes in a close second.....and they both fit their names.
Martha listened as she prepared food for the body. She was feeding her soul as she listened and the body as she prepared the nourishments.
Mary vs Martha on the first day; the SEC has outdone themselves! Martha that I have a tendency to be, I so strive to be more Mary so Mary caught my vote (despite the fact I started getting underdog vibes - a constant draw for me - as I read about Martha). Thrilled to see Oliver back, and now we have 7 year old Pailet. Lent Madness wonders never cease!
Hard working and Godly Martha, all the way!!!
I just had to vote for Martha; seems she always gets a bad rep! The work does need to be done, otherwise the intellectual stimulus will be suppressed. She is to be praised for sacrificing her nearness to Jesus to make certain He was given the very best they had to offer.
So this year begins with a hard choice. Martha or Mary? YES
But I chose Martha. She had the gift of hospitality and used it. Doesn’t deserve the bad rap, imho
Here's some food for thought. This is really Martha's story. She's the only one to whom Jesus speaks, and it is only Martha whom Luke has given anything to say.
Luke's story is totally different from John's. In Luke, the village where they live is not named; Lazarus is not mentioned at all; there is no one named in the story besides Jesus. Was this a private dinner party for three?
Or, as one feminist scholar points out, "diakonía"--which is the word we have taken to mean that Martha was in the kitchen--means "leadership" or "proclamation" for everyone else (Paul, Stephen, etc.). What if Martha was the leader of a gathering of Jesus' listeners--not unlike the "house church" of a Lydia, or a Priscilla, or a Phoebe in Paul's letters? The gospel doesn't specify what Martha was doing. Her "many tasks" and "work" could refer to anything; it is only our assumption about women that leads us to conclude that she was fixing supper. Just sayin'!
Because I'm a Martha. And our writer failed to note that she was the first to declare, "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."
Yeah, tried to vote for Mary, but I'm not ready for that yet. I always felt that Martha got a raw deal. Jesus shows up with his hungry entourage, and then he condones cutting the hospitality team in half. He doesn't say, "You sit down, too, and we'll all help you later." "Or, maybe James and John can take a turn in the kitchen in the kitchen with you/for you." Martha stays at her post, despite how much she may have wanted to sit with the master, and she gets chided for it. I think Jesus is very dismissive of Martha.
Yeah, Mary gets the greatest of all commandments, but she doesn't get the second one, so I am voting with Martha here, as I always do in my heart, while praying for the openness to see it another way eventually.
But that's it, exactly! If Martha had sat down and, perhaps said to Jesus, Lord do you mind if I listen too, and we just a simple meal later, would that be OK? Jesus would have said "Sure Martha, please come over here and sit here by me, We can all just go and make our own sandwiches later. Now I was just telling Mary about...." He knew the priorities and signalled them clearly. And I can imagine him coming out into the kitchen and making his own. Martha made her own hell by putting appearances first (hers as the hostess and the hospitality of her home.) That was NOT what Jesus wanted. Why did she get so many votes? I suspect the insidious influence of men who like to be served! Not very Christlike in my opinion!
MARY