I am always amazed by the Gospels and how every time I read them I discover something new. It seems as if the Holy Spirit is slowly unveiling them and only allowing me to see the portions that are most appropriate for the moment in time that I am living.

The words in today’s Gospel truly hit home for me at this time of my life. It is like Jesus is saying “José, my dear José, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

How many times we are so involved in many good things that we miss the best things? How many times we think that the world will collapse if we are not in charge? And this is true not only in our workplaces or at home, but at Church as well. Sometimes we think that a particular ministry is going to fail or disappear if we are not the “leader” of it. Sometimes we wonder how the Church managed to survive without us?!

We get involved in so many good things that we miss the best things. Many times, we are like Martha, working very hard to make sure some event goes well. We work so hard on it that at the end we missed the main event.

I think we go through life worrying and working too much on good things that we miss the best things. We become workaholics so we can provide more things to our children, but in the process, we miss their “growing up” experiences. We get involved in so many activities that we no longer have time for our wife or husband, and we miss the opportunities to spend some quality time together.

Fr. Ignacio Larrañaga used to say, “we work so hard on God’s things that we forget about God.” What are the good things that are depriving me of better things?

Let us not wait until it is too late in our life to start looking for the best moments. Life is too short, and we only live once. Let us enjoy the moment without worrying too much about superfluous details. Let God take care of you. Hopefully the next time Jesus comes to visit us in our home, we will be like Mary and chose the best part.

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