After a full year of holy anticipation, Lent Madness returns for another season of saintly thrills and spills! Whether this is your tenth year engaging in the annual saintly smackdown or your first, we're delighted you'll be spending a portion of your Lenten journey among us. Along the way there will be debates, ire, angst, rejoicing, laughter, and holy trash talking. Just remember, it’s all in the spirit of this holy season specifically set aside to grow closer to God through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
To experience the fullness of the Lent Madness experience, the Supreme Executive Committee encourages you to do several things. First, like Lent Madness on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter. Second, subscribe to the Lent Madness e-mails so you never miss a vote. You can do this by going to the home page of our website and entering your e-mail address (near the top right). Third, you can support the ministry of Lent Madness by heading over to the Lentorium and purchasing Lent Madness swag.
But mostly, we encourage you to read about the 32 saintly souls participating in this year's edition of Lent Madness, faithfully cast your (single!) vote on the weekdays of Lent, and add your comments to the great cloud of participating witnesses that gathers as the online Lent Madness community each year.
Lent Madness 2019, or Lent Madness X as we've been calling it, kicks off with a battle between two Biblical heavyweights as we settle, once and for all, the age old question: Mary vs. Martha. And before you say it, of course it's not fair! It's not called Lent Madness for nothing.
So, hang onto your halos, friends, and prepare yourselves for another wild ride of saintly action. Away we go!
Mary of Bethany
Mary of Bethany lived in first-century Bethany with her sister, Martha, and her brother, Lazarus, as we are told in the Gospel of Luke. Along with her siblings, she was among the very first to believe in Jesus.
Luke recounts the famous story of Jesus having supper at the sisters’ house, where Martha, concerned with getting the food on the table, asks Jesus to scold Mary for her apparent lack of concern. It’s notable that Mary is described as sitting at Jesus’ feet while Martha serves; usually only the male students of rabbis sat at the feet of their teachers. For Mary to do so is highly unusual for an unmarried woman—possibly why Martha gets antsy about it. But Jesus declines to chide Mary for what she has done, declaring that in her discipleship, she has “chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The Gospel of John also gives us a few more glimpses of Mary of Bethany. John explicitly links Mary with the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her hair. At Lazarus’s death, both Mary and Martha race out into the street to greet Jesus when he finally comes, and Mary chastises him, echoing her sister’s words, saying “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” At her declaration, Jesus is moved to tears.
It is clear that Jesus is quite close with this family. Through contextual clues, we can tell that the family must have been fairly well-to-do, given the sisters’ independent status and ability to support Jesus’ ministry. They seem to own their house and are able to provide a separate burial site for their brother (somewhat rare—and not cheap.). We also have John’s story of Mary spending more than 300 denarii (equivalent to 300 days of wage for a laborer) on pure spikenard to anoint Jesus.
Later church tradition treated Mary as it treated many of the other women of the gospel; it elided her story into that of an Everywoman who is remarkable mostly in her blandness. The few stories that survive in the West often conflate her with Mary Magdalene. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, her uniqueness survives, and with her sister and Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany is remembered on the third Sunday of Easter as one of the Myrrh-Bearing Women—the first to recognize the risen Christ.
Collect for Mary of Bethany
O God, heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Martha of Bethany
The iconic Martha of Bethany is the hero of faithful pragmatics and doers, though she gets a bad rap for being less contemplative than her sister. When Jesus visits her house, Mary sits at his feet, but Martha feels the burdens of her role as hostess and works in the kitchen, resentful that Mary isn’t helping. When she complains, the Lord answers, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted about many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” Because of this anecdote, Martha is seen to symbolize worldly concerns while her sister Mary focuses on the spiritual. When Jesus asks someone to open the tomb of her days-dead brother Lazarus, the heartbroken Martha stays true to her practical nature, responding, “Lord, already there is a stench.”
Although not expressly mentioned in the gospels, the Orthodox tradition honors both Martha and Mary as among the followers of Jesus who stood at Golgotha to witness the crucifixion, and later carried myrrh to his tomb to anoint the body. Thus they are counted among the first witnesses of the resurrection. This tradition also holds that Martha fled persecution in Judea with Lazarus, joining him as a missionary abroad until he became a bishop in Cyprus, where all three siblings eventually died.
According to the Golden Legend, a medieval hagiography (writing about the lives of the saints), the siblings were of noble birth. Martha put her aristocratic hostess skills to use for Jesus because, “She thought that all the world was not sufficient to serve such a guest.” The same legend holds that the family arrived in France miraculously via a ship without oars or sails to preach the gospel. The eminently practical Martha tamed a Galician dragon, “half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than a horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent.” Afterward Martha lived a life of daily devotion in France until she died. A tomb in the Collegiate Church of Tarascon purportedly contains her relics.
Martha’s feast day is July 29, and she is patron saint of cooks, dietitians, domestic help, housekeepers, servants, and waitpersons. And of course, she is admired by pragmatics, doers, and practitioners of common sense.
Collect for Martha of Bethany
O God, heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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537 comments on “Mary of Bethany vs. Martha of Bethany”
Okay so of Course Martha is winning. All the Martha's have it together enough to VOTE. The Mary's are chilling. 🙂
Martha. Because someone has to cook, clean, and tame the dragons!
The commentary for Mary helped me to see her in a new light and,as a feminist, I admire how progressive and assertive she was in choosing to 'get out of the kitchen ' and in the living room with the guys. But,as a former waitress, the Thanksgiving hostess and the pragmatic one. Had to go with my girl Martha. Here's hoping that we can take the good qualities from them both. We Martha's can give ourselves permission to be Mary's and the Marys can be a little more action based.
Sorry, folks, but Martha’s behavior and attitude have always irritated me. What kind of hostess complains to her guest of honor about her sister’s behavior, putting the guest in the position of passing judgment on Mary, who, by the way, is being respectfully attentive to said guest.
Martha is very thorough and organized, which is great, except she judges everyone else by her own (self-imposed) very high standards.
Meanwhile, Mary seems to be a more go-with-the-flow kind of person. She lives in the moment, savoring life, while Martha is obsessed with completing tasks.
So who is the better of the two? The one who serves everyone with a grudging, complaining attitude or the graciously attentive one who’s totally focused on their beloved friend and guest?
Yeah, I’m definitely voting for Mary!
Right on!!!!
Right on!
Martha , because she wanted to be the one to serve Christ .. AND she tamed a dragon !!! How cool is that?? !!
As a Canadian engineer, I was enrolled as a Son of Martha. (After Kipling's poem). So, my vote is clear.
Who did Jesus hold up as a role model (ie, saint) for us?
I have always preferred the Mary , but if needed I can be Martha, as long as I can still listen to the teachings. With open kitchens that is possible today!
I am blown away by the responses to the first candidates! Martha gets my vote. Hospitality is such a vital ministry-- who has not been involved in the joys and woes of getting volunteers for Cofee Hour? While I jest, I do offer the example of the Benedictines and Franciscans, for whom hospitality has been a hallmark for hundreds of years. Get me my dish towel. In fact, make a Martha Towel and sell it in the Lentorium!
It's 7:10 pm God's time (Mountain) I don't know if this is open. I was really working my brain on this one. For me, Martha's declaration that she knew Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God come into the world means more than who cooks or who thirsts to learn. When Peter said it, Jesus made a big deal of it...a direct revelation from God! No such credit to Martha .
After their brother had died Mary stayed home and Martha went out to meet Jesus on the road. It is to Martha, and her alone that Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." And Martha tells Jesus in no uncertain terms that she knows who he is. "You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." Martha's faith and knowledge too often gets overlooked. I give thanks for the examples of both Martha and her sister but Martha gets my vote.
I voted but I already forgot which saint I voted for! I think it was Martha. I’m just not sure how to play. Can I fill out a complete bracket now? Thanks.
Martha. Because I'll bet Jesus ate the lunch.
Mary. Although I love Martha's pragmatism and work ethic, I have to come down on the side of a woman who understands that a healthy desire for self-enrichment and knowledge is neither aberrant nor something to feel guilty about. I don't think Jesus was scolding Martha as much as pointing out that many of the social pressures we put on ourselves are ultimately optional.
I notice that, while Martha is recognized as a Saint, Mary is not. I will think of her as the patron saint of women who enter the ministers.
I voted Mary because she is my Patron Saint!!! One of Jesus’ closest female companions!
I voted for Mary. My mother is a Martha and there were times and still are times since she’s 85 that she could sit down and enjoy the excellent meal that she cooked and enjoy the people for whom she so loves and wants to make a good impression. Or let others do the cooking for her ... like me. I’m a definite Mary, perhaps obliviously so. So you can imagine what my growing up was like. Don’t get me wrong. The Martha’s are greatly appreciated and loved in some cases. Some can just go overboard on both sides.
I voted for Martha, cause I think of all the people behind the scenes at our church food events (and there are many) who never ask for recognition but are just as in love with Jesus as the rest of us. Without Martha’s food we wouldn’t eat! Love this discipline!
I think Mary of Bethany is the better one!!!
I voted for Martha in honor of all the "church ladies" who prepare meals we enjoy and then wash up afterwards. Where in the world would we be without them? DHH
Although i am a Martha by nature, i read this story as a call from Jesus to pay attention to the spiritual over the material, certainly when the material can wait. How wonderfully feminist of him to honor Mary with the role of student to his rabbi! We Marthas would be well served by spending a little more energy on listening to God, and taking some time for our own spiritual nourishment, before acting as the pragmatic hostess. The 2 are not mutually exclusive, but Jesus was the "Way, the Truth and the Light", coming to us a human to engage us directly. So Mary gets my vote.
I'm usually in Mary's camp. But today we need doers and pragmatic leadership. We can always whistle while we work...
So many comments wow! Sister vs sister in the first match up. This is madness!
I know Jesus made it sound like Mary made the better choice but without Martha’s it just doesn’t get done!
I voted for Martha who always gets a bum rap. There is more to her than one might think. Jesus went around free loading but he didn't put a good word in for Martha. I know this is an abbreviaetd story, but he might have said, "Mary, let's work together in the kitcjen and we can a discussion at the table."
I voted for Mary as she is a wonderful reminder of the need to take time, put all the busyness aside, center and just chill for a while. I too loved the rap, and am excited the games have begun again! The church I attend doesn't seem to be doing Lent Madness this year but I also couldn't help but notice- guess what song was also used during the Ash Wednesday service although they didn't use the Lent Madness lyrics! Oooh well- maybe next Sunday! I also wanted to comment on the message on Lent as an Invitation as well, Beautiful, and so easy to identify with as well Scott and Tim- thank you so much!
Mary, who claimed a place traditionally reserved for men, and whose sharing of honest emotion called up a matching human response in Jesus.
Late into the game, and apparently on the losing side. Sad to see my girls pitted against each other! They are both my matron saints, given that I was born on their feast day—when I found that out, it explained so much about my conflicted life! I love them both, but as my name is Mary, daughter an great-granddaughter and mother of great women named Mary, she had to get my vote. But Martha’s my girl, too, and she’s feisty. You other saints, LOOK OUT!!
Hello All. A little help, please... I invited a coworker to play against me for a charity wager and he asked tons of questions about scoring (he's a true sports guy who does sports brackets and I've never done one). How are we meant score each match (points? how many? when?)? Do we fill out the whole bracket in advance (he said that's how brackets are done)? What happens when a chosen saint is eleminated before the end? I'd be very grateful for any light you can shed, thank you! Wishing you all a blessed Lent.
How about working together, Mary, so you both share the load and the joy of time with Jesus!