Women in History: Saint Martha

 For Holy Women’s History Month, Maria Riley appreciates how Saint Martha’s work took on new meaning once that Christ became part of her life. 

When we think about Saint Martha, we immediately recall the classic Martha vs. Mary scene in the Bible. We know it well: Jesus comes to the home of siblings Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Mary sits dutifully at the feet of Jesus while Martha scurries about, serving Jesus and his disciples. When Martha finally approaches Jesus to reprimand her sister for just sitting there while she had to do all the work on her own, Jesus verbally rebukes her and tells her that she is worried about all the wrong things and Mary has chosen the better part (cf. Luke 10:38-42).

At first glance, this story seems cut and dried. Martha is anxious and focused on all the work, and Mary is seated, having chosen the “right” course of action. I’ve heard countless women’s talks and social media posts reminding us women that we need to be more like Mary and less like Martha. In this story, Mary is perceived as the righteous one, and Martha is heralded as the one with backward priorities.

I Identify with Martha

I’ve always connected with Martha. Every time we hear this Gospel at church, I feel a twinge of frustration that Martha doesn’t get more credit. After all, there were mouths to feed and dishes to wash. If she didn’t do them, they wouldn’t have gotten done. As a mom, I live the life of Martha nonstop. My kids constantly need food and rides, and the piles of laundry and dishes never shrink no matter how hard I try. The work of a mom never ends.

Martha’s story doesn’t end after the iconic scene in Luke. We hear about her again in chapter 11 of John’s Gospel. Martha has heard the reprimand of Jesus and is ready to trust in the Lord. Lazarus, Mary and Martha’s brother, has died. The sisters are in mourning, devastated about their brother’s death. When they hear Jesus is on the way, Martha jumps up and goes out to meet him. Though she wasn’t an apostle, and though she was preoccupied with all the wrong things before, she now speaks a definitive proclamation of Jesus’ divinity. When asked if she believes, she says,

“Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world” (John 11:27).

Martha wasn’t perfect. She found herself caught up in the demands of earthly life, and she focused on the wrong things. Yet when given the opportunity to truly know Christ, she embraced him entirely, even when in mourning over the death of her brother. She knew that Jesus could have healed him and prevented Lazarus’s death, but her faith was bigger than her sorrow.

Martha’s Spiritual Transformation — and Mine

We only hear about Martha one more time in the Scriptures. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus and his apostles dined once again at their home. Lazarus was reclining at table with Jesus, and Mary once again was at his feet, this time anointing them with costly perfumed oil. Of Martha, we simply hear: “Martha served.” In the end, after this tremendous spiritual transformation, she was still doing exactly what she did in the first scene: serving Jesus and his followers.

After all, there were mouths to feed and dishes to wash. If she didn’t do them, they wouldn’t get done. It wasn’t actually the work that prevented her from choosing the better part. It was what was in her spirit.

When I first really fell in love with Jesus, I wanted my external life to change as much as my heart had. In fact, I really believed (briefly) that I had missed my calling to religious life. If not religious life, I thought our family should become missionaries, and when that was ruled out, I even seriously contemplated donating our entire savings account. God graciously let my level-headed husband help me through this time of deep longing for drastic discipleship.

Just like Martha, I wasn’t called to an externally different life. My day-to-day life looks mostly the same. I’m still feeding children and shuttling them all around town. I’m juggling supporting my kids and letting them find their own way. I’m washing dishes, enduring hormonal rages, attending parent-teacher conferences, and reminding my kids to shower. My work and the service I do for my family looks the same, but it’s no longer an obligation. Now it’s an opportunity to serve Christ. To grow in holiness. To be the woman I was created to be. It’s not glamorous. It’s not fancy. Most days it’s not even appreciated. But when I serve from love and willingness and not out of obligation, that transformation can keep happening in my soul.

On the days when my obligations wear me down and I’m feeling completely unappreciated for my work as a mom, I turn to Saint Martha. She understands the demands of family life. There’s no fanfare, no glory, but it is indeed the better part when I remember that I’m doing it all for Christ. Then I smile and put myself into Scripture and simply say, “Maria served.”

Saint Martha, pray for us.

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Copyright 2026 Maria Riley
Images: (banner) Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo; iStockPhoto.com, licensed for use by Holy Cross Family Ministries