Even in the summer the Pope meets the faithful at the residence in Castel Gandolfo to give a brief reflection before praying the midday Angelus. He’s on vacation so-to-speak, though he continues with meetings and writing and the like on a much reduced schedule. A paragraph from yesterday’s address on vacation and God is noteworthy as many of us are now taking time off from work for leisure activities. The Pope emphasizes in his reflection that Christ is clear: the active life and hospitality are essential in discipleship but it is absolutely necessary to listen to the Word of the Lord. The heart of St Luke’s narrative of the Martha & Mary event is that in “the Lord is there in that moment, present in the person of Jesus! Everything else will pass and will be taken away from us, but the Word of God is eternal and gives meaning to our daily activity.”
And so, we have the heart of Benedict’s message:
This Gospel passage [on Martha and Mary, Luke10:38-42] is very important at vacation time, because it recalls the fact that the human person must work, must involve himself in domestic and professional concerns, to be sure, but he has need of God before all else, who is the interior light of love and truth. Without love, even the most important activities lose value and do not bring joy. Without a profound meaning, everything we do is reduced to sterile and disordered activism. And who gives us love and truth if not Jesus Christ? So let us learn, brothers, to help each other, to cooperate, but first of all to choose together the better part, which is and will always be our greater good.