The Lord said, ‘I will see you again, and your hearts will
rejoice, and no one shall take your joy away’. Mary prefigured that joy when
she sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
She was silent, doing no work, she cleaved to the
truth as far as can be in this life, yet it is only a foreshadowing of the joy
that will last for ever.
Her sister Martha was occupied with work that has to
be done, but which, however good and useful, will pass away when we come to
eternal rest. So the Lord said, ‘Mary has chosen the best part which shall not be
taken from her’. He did not say that Martha’s part was bad, only that the one
which would not be taken away was the better.
For example, the work of looking after the needy will
pass away, when there is no more poverty. But it is the transitory good works
that will gain us eternal rest. In contemplating God each of us will find all
that we desire, for he will be all in all when we see and possess him; that is
why his Holy Spirit in our hearts makes us pray: ‘One thing have I asked, this
I have longed for: to dwell for ever in the Lord’s house and contemplate his
love.’
(On the Trinity I. 10.20)
