Martha and Mary

There's the suggestion by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza that the story doesn't date to the time of "the earthly Jesus" but instead reflects a "struggle" in the early church over "the proper ministerial roles for women


"Our occupations and preoccupations," wrote Henri Nouwen,, "fill our external and internal lives to the brim. They prevent the Spirit of God from breathing freely in us and thus renewing our lives."