DO WE NEED A STORM?

Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin
Lk 10:38-42

The Gospel today that paints for us the picture of Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, sitting at the feet of Jesus, attentively listening to the Lord, is very appropriate for the memorial of St. Scholastica. Scholastica spent her life contemplating the Lord as the first Benedictine nun. She lived a life of listening to Jesus in the solitude of monastic life.

Born in 480, Scholastica was the twin sister of St. Benedict, the Father of Western monasticism. Benedict used to come annually to visit her. During Benedict’s visit in 547, it was said that just when Benedict was about to leave, Scholastica, wanting to hear more of her brother’s wise and holy teachings, prayed that a storm would force him to stay longer. The storm came and Benedict had no choice but to postpone his departure until the storm subsided. Three days after his visit, Benedict saw a dove flew to heaven and immediately realized that Scholastica passed away from this life to the next. This seemingly little incident reminds us of the precious gift of one another’s presence. Our presence is the best gift we can give to anyone. It is a gift of the self, and the time spent in the giving is a gift in itself that cannot and can never be taken back by the giver.

The same presence was Mary’s gift to the Lord. It was the best compared to Martha’s choice. Martha’s preoccupation in serving the Lord was a better part than doing nothing for Jesus. But Mary’s choice to listen to what Jesus had to say was certainly the best, for what the Lord wants to tell us is infinitely more significant than what we want to do for Him. The height of true spirituality is not when we are busy thinking, planning, organizing, mobilizing, and accomplishing a project for the Lord, no matter how wonderful and praiseworthy our project is. The apex of holiness is when we allow the Lord to work in us. This peak of religious experience is reached only when we make our selves empty of everything so that Jesus can fill us up.

There can be no presence greater than the Lord’s. There is no gift more precious than the Lord’s presence. In response, there can be no gift more fitting to be given the Lord than our precious presence too. We do not need to pray for a storm to make that offering, do we?