At the Feet of JesusSample

When a person is concentrating on watching a movie, it is likely for that person to be oblivious to what is going on around him. Listening to music can distract you from your surroundings. Why? Because your senses and attention are focused on what you like and are attracted to. In this case, Mary was totally focused on Jesus' gaze and words; nothing and no one else was important to her: She only wanted to listen and obey Christ.

Mary had abandoned activities that, although not bad, could distract her from spending her time listening to Jesus. In short, Mary was not available to help at that very moment. Of course, this upset Martha; her younger sister was not helping her to care for and serve the guests. Therefore, Martha arrives and lodges her complaint: «Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me». Since Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet, it is safe to say that she heard her sister, Martha, complaining about her, but Mary was silent. Her priority was not to hear what her sister had to say about her, but what Jesus had to say about her.

Generally, when a person presents a complaint about us in public, we have two phrases of defense: "Tell me things in front of me and not in public" or "What did I do wrong?". In Mary's case we do not read that she responded to her sister; she did not present any defense. While Martha gave the opportunity to initiate a conflict between sisters, Mary did not answer her with a wrong, but meekly listened to her, but kept silent and calm.