The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. Luke
Hence S. Augustine says of the heavenly life, “There will be there no grudging because of unequal love, for one love will reign supreme in all;” and S. Gregory, “So great a love there unites all, that each rejoices that another rather than himself has received a blessing." Life therefore reigns in love, i.e. in union ; but death in hatred, i.e. in division.
Mary hath chosen that good part. The Syriac and Arabic add “to herself" — hath taken to herself. The Greek word ἀγαθήν implies excellence, hence the Vulgate gives optimam. For Christ commends the one sister more than the other. “ Thou, Martha, hast chosen well, but Mary better. Thou hast not chosen a bad part, but she a better." S. Augustine. “ Behold, Martha is not blamed, but Mary is praised." Bede. And again, S. Augustin (serm. 27 De Verbis Domini ), “Can we imagine that Martha was blamed for being intent on hospitable cares? How could she be rightly blamed for rejoicing over such a guest?" So also Ambrose and Cassian (Collat. i., chap. 8).
Theophylact explains, “By the action of the one, the body is nourished ; by the action of the other the soul receives life." And Euthymius, “ It is good to be hospitable, but it is better to hear the word of God, for the one is of the body, the other of the spirit.”
S. Augustin gives another figurative interpretation: “Why was Mary's the better part? Because she preferred the one thing to many. Many things were created, but there was but one Creator, and if the things created were very good, how excellent must He be who created them."
There are three persons in the Godhead, and these three are one, so the nearer you approach to perfect unity, the nigher you draw to God; and Christ Himself prays the Father that His disciples “may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us.” And again, “The glory which thou gavest Me have I given them ; that they may be one, even as We are one." See S. John xvii. 21 et seq.
Hence to choose the good part, is to give up all care of earthly things, and to devote oneself entirely to the service of God.
Hear Richard de S. Victor on Cant viii : “ Mary chose the better part, because she saw that the contemplation and the love of God included all things ; but her sister was occupied about things which, though many, are limited to this world : hence by comparison Martha was troubled about few things. But the one thing necessary, and to be preferred before all, is to love God with the whole heart, and to show love and charity to all men.” And Suarez (De Oratione Mentali ) says, “Mary made the better choice, because mental prayer brings about blessedness in this life, because it is the commencement of that beatific vision which will be the happiness of the saints in heaven.”
Hence the joy of Magdalene was real and lasting. So S. Bernard says, “It is impossible to enjoy here on earth a sweet and happy life, since the earth itself is subject to constant change ; but there is a joy lasting in its happiness, which arises out of a pure conscience. For the mind which is purified from earthly affections and entirely fixed on the contemplation of heavenly things, fears no threatenings, knows no fear, conceives no false hopes, but, void of all offence, rests in perfect peace.” Hugo Victorious accounts for this perfect peace thus : “ A conscience is quiet and void of offence when it is kindly affectioned to all, and bears ill-will to none : when it regards a friend with kindness, an enemy with patience, and seeks to do good, if possible, to all men.”
Allusion is here made, says Maldonatus, to the manner in which the ancients divided an inheritance. It was customary for the eldest son to divide the property into as many parts as might be requisite, and for his brothers to have the first choice, so as to ensure an equal division. Seneca (lib. vi, Declamatio 3).
Thus Christ was the inheritance, which Martha as the elder sister divided into two parts, to hear Christ and to serve Him. Mary the younger chose the better part, i.e. to hear the words of Christ, for the Hebrew (חֵלֶק), chelec, i.e. part, in Scripture signifies the lot of one’s inheritance. Thus, “ The Lord is my portion,” Lam. iii. 24. See also Psalm xvi. 5.
But the active and the contemplative life combined tend to perfection , for the one controls and directs the other. So Christ taught the people by day, but was wont to spend whole nights in prayer, and following his example thus did also the Baptist and the Apostles.
Which shall not be taken away from her. Because to hear, like Mary, the word of God, and to meditate thereon, is spiritual food which will support the soul until it comes to appear in the eternal presence ; but to minister, as Martha, is to choose that part which endures but for this present life. S. Augustin and others. Hence S. Gregory : “ The part which Mary chose will never be taken away from her, because a contemplative life is unlike an active life, its joys gain strength from death.”
Hear also S. Augustin : “ That which thou hast chosen, Martha, will be taken from thee, that something better may be given. For in place of labour thou shalt have rest. Thou hast not yet reached thy journey's end, but thy sister is in the haven.” And a little before he says, “ Martha was troubled how she might feed the Lord, Mary anxious to be fed by Him.” And again, “ Carefulness for many things passes away, but the love of one thing lasts for ever.” And Laurentius Justinianus says, “ An active life is an anxious one, but a life of contemplation possesses a lasting joy. The one obtains a kingdom, while the other perceives only. In the one the world is despised, in the other God will be manifest, for ‘ My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.’” Isaiah xxxii. 18.
Again S. Gregory writes, “ The active life ends with this world ; for in the next who can give bread to the hungry where there is no hunger— or drink to the thirsty where there is no thirst. But the contemplative life begins here on earth, to be perfected in heaven ; for the fire of divine love which is kindled here, burns brighter in the presence of God, who is its object.”
See also Cassian, who says amongst other things, “ In the future world all will pass from the many distractions of life and from actual work, to be absorbed in the love of God and in the contemplation of the Deity.”
Observe, as against Calvin, that Martha is the type of the active life, and that Mary, sitting silently at Jesus' feet, insensible to what was going on around because of her rapt attention to the words of Christ, a type of the contemplative. S. Bernard and others.
But what is contemplation ? S. Augustin (or whoever else may be the author of the treatise De Spiritu et Anima) answers, “ It is the joyful admiration of a manifest truth." But S. Bernard defines contemplation as “ the uplifting of the mind to God, whereby we gain a forestate of the joys of happiness eternal" Others again say, “ It is the sure intuition of the soul or its undoubted apprehension of the truth." But Gerson, following Hugo, says, “ It is to be dead to all carnal desires, and to taste how sweet the Lord is. As David rejoiced in the living God (Ps. lxxxiv. 9), and declared God to be his portion for ever." Ps. lxxiii. 25.
S. Gregory also (hom. 14 in Ezech.) thus describes the duties of each kind of life : — “ The active life consists in giving bread to the hungry, in teaching the ignorant, reclaiming those who are in error, caring for the sick, and in ministering to the necessities of all, specially to the necessities of those committed to our trust. But he who would lead a life of contemplation must ever keep in mind the love of God and of his neighbour, and refraining from acting on this love, look with the longing expectation of a heart wholly fixed on heaven for the glory which shall be revealed."
Hence S. Thomas says, “The contemplative life, although mainly intellectual, originates in the affections, inasmuch as it springs out of the love of God, and the end of such a life is like the beginning , for delight at the sight of that which we love increases our love for it"
The contemplative life therefore causes a man to rise superior to the world, its trials and temptations, and to count all things as valueless in comparison with God, and gives perfect peace, because, S. Bernard says, “ God wrapt all things in a holy calm, and to gaze on Him is to be at rest." But this life of contemplation is preceded by an active life of mortification and self-denial, for as the fruit follows after the flower, so from a monk does a man become a hermit. Therefore S. Basil and other ascetics say that the monastic life is a fitting preparation for that life of contemplation to which the hermits are devoted.
And so the Church has rightly appointed this portion of scripture to be read on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin because she rendered to Christ the service both of Martha and of Mary, and chose that good part, of which she will never be deprived.