# Are You Anxious and Worried About Many Things - Bishop Barron Sermon

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 28 Oct 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75632906/utf_8_q_are_you_anxious_and_worried_about_many_t_utf_8_q_hings_bishop_barron_e2_80_99s_sunday_sermon_mp3.mp3



## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Peace be with you, friends, on this 16th Sunday of
[0:03] Speaker 1: Ordinary Time. Our gospel is the ever-popular Martha Mary gospel.
[0:07] Speaker 1: I say ever-popular with a tongue-in-cheek a bit because in
[0:10] Speaker 1: my years of preaching, it's one that tends to bother
[0:13] Speaker 1: people a lot. I've heard more and more criticisms. I
[0:16] Speaker 1: don't know what's going on there, Father. Explain that to me.
[0:19] Speaker 1: So we'll get to Martha Mary, but I want to
[0:22] Speaker 1: focus first on reading number one, which is really extraordinary.
[0:25] Speaker 1: From the book of Genesis, it's part of the cycle
[0:27] Speaker 1: of stories about Abraham, and it's It's really weird. It's
[0:32] Speaker 1: a weird story. And it's intrigued the tradition, both theological
[0:36] Speaker 1: and artistic. In fact, one of the great icons of
[0:39] Speaker 1: the Trinity is based upon this scene. And here's how
[0:43] Speaker 1: it opens. The Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth
[0:47] Speaker 1: of Mamre. So Abraham is there. It's a hot days
[0:49] Speaker 1: by this tree and he's intent. And it says, clearly,
[0:53] Speaker 1: the Lord appeared to him. So God is making an appearance. Now,
[0:57] Speaker 1: often in the Old Testament, God's presence is mediated by
[1:01] Speaker 1: the angelic. But now listen. So he's sitting in the
[1:04] Speaker 1: entrance to his tent. The day is growing hot. Looking up,
[1:07] Speaker 1: Abraham saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them,
[1:12] Speaker 1: he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them.
[1:16] Speaker 1: And bowing to the ground, he said, Sir, if I
[1:20] Speaker 1: may ask you this favor. Let me, you know, wait
[1:23] Speaker 1: on you. All right. There's a lot going on here
[1:26] Speaker 1: in this strange little story. So we've been told already
[1:30] Speaker 1: the Lord's appearing. Well, how interesting that he appears in
[1:33] Speaker 1: the form of three men or three angels. Huh? Why three? Well,
[1:40] Speaker 1: the Christian mind right away is intrigued by this, that
[1:43] Speaker 1: God is somehow a play of three in one. Looking up,
[1:48] Speaker 1: he sees them, and then he runs away. Now, this
[1:51] Speaker 1: is in some ways the key to the whole story.
[1:55] Speaker 1: When God appears to you, you don't sit around. You
[1:59] Speaker 1: don't wait till tomorrow. You don't put it off because
[2:02] Speaker 1: there's something more important. No, you run. See, when the
[2:08] Speaker 1: Lord is coming into your life, you don't mess around.
[2:11] Speaker 1: You don't compromise. You run to the Lord. But then, see,
[2:18] Speaker 1: this is what I find so intriguing. He runs, he
[2:20] Speaker 1: greets him, he bows. So, again, this is an acknowledgment
[2:23] Speaker 1: of the divinity of what's appearing to him, bowing to
[2:26] Speaker 1: the ground. That's the attitude of worship, okay? But this
[2:30] Speaker 1: is what I find really interesting. He says, sir, if
[2:34] Speaker 1: I may ask you this favor. He's addressing three people, right?
[2:39] Speaker 1: Why does he just say, sir? There's a weird play
[2:42] Speaker 1: here of plurality, the three, and the one. Because we're
[2:48] Speaker 1: told the Lord appeared, so that's the one God, but
[2:51] Speaker 1: he appears in terms of these three men whom Abraham worships,
[2:57] Speaker 1: so that's appropriate to God, but then Abraham refers to
[3:00] Speaker 1: them as sir, as one. Huh. Do you see now
[3:04] Speaker 1: why the tradition saw in this scene something kind of
[3:08] Speaker 1: weirdly interesting about the triune quality of God? But then...
[3:15] Speaker 1: Abraham ran, he bowed, and then, boy, does he get going.
[3:19] Speaker 1: He's ordering his servants, let the water be brought, you
[3:23] Speaker 1: may bathe your feet, then rest yourselves under the tree.
[3:26] Speaker 1: Now you've come this close to your servant, let me
[3:28] Speaker 1: bring you a little food. You may refresh yourselves. Afterwards,
[3:31] Speaker 1: you may go on your way. Let me be of
[3:34] Speaker 1: complete service to you. That's what he's saying. Now, Abraham
[3:38] Speaker 1: is a prominent figure. He's a patriarchal figure. It was
[3:43] Speaker 1: indeed part of ancient Middle Eastern hospitality to be kind
[3:48] Speaker 1: to visitors that come upon you because in that desert culture,
[3:51] Speaker 1: it was often a matter of life and death. Someone
[3:54] Speaker 1: just who comes upon you, they might've been wandering for
[3:56] Speaker 1: days and they need food and drinks. So that's understandable
[4:00] Speaker 1: on the surface level. But the really interesting thing is
[4:03] Speaker 1: the deeper level. If we are talking about a theophany here,
[4:07] Speaker 1: a manifestation of God, What we're seeing in all the
[4:12] Speaker 1: moves and gestures of Abraham is the right attitude. Go,
[4:18] Speaker 1: don't delay. Oh, man, for our culture today, so secularized
[4:24] Speaker 1: and God, well, you know, I guess if that's your
[4:26] Speaker 1: thing and... No, no, if you're talking about God, you move,
[4:32] Speaker 1: you act, and then you worship. That's the right attitude.
[4:37] Speaker 1: You don't say, oh, God is, you know, one interest
[4:39] Speaker 1: I have among many. Oh yeah, I like baseball, I
[4:42] Speaker 1: like politics, I like my family, and I like God,
[4:45] Speaker 1: and I like... No, no, no, no, no. The right
[4:48] Speaker 1: attitude toward God is worship. And then radical service. Abraham
[4:55] Speaker 1: is saying basically, look, my life is about you now.
[4:58] Speaker 1: I'm not here to serve myself, make myself comfortable. No,
[5:02] Speaker 1: my life is all about you. Speed, reverence, radical service.
[5:09] Speaker 1: Does that make sense? Fellow believers, you know, do a
[5:13] Speaker 1: little searching moral inventory of your own spiritual life. And
[5:16] Speaker 1: you say, oh, yeah, I believe in God. Oh, yeah,
[5:18] Speaker 1: God is so important to me. Are all these moves
[5:22] Speaker 1: on display in your life? Do you act, you move
[5:27] Speaker 1: when the Lord has come near? You worship him faithfully
[5:31] Speaker 1: and regularly. Oh, yeah, God's so important to me. When
[5:34] Speaker 1: was the last time he went to mass? Oh, you know,
[5:37] Speaker 1: 10 years ago. then you're not taking God seriously. Oh,
[5:42] Speaker 1: God is the center of my life. Well, how often
[5:45] Speaker 1: do you serve God? Show me exactly how you're giving
[5:49] Speaker 1: your life to God. Oh, you know, I don't really
[5:52] Speaker 1: have time for all that. Then you're not serving God.
[5:58] Speaker 1: Take Abraham here in the presence of these three men, angels,
[6:01] Speaker 1: whatever you want to call them, as emblematic of the
[6:05] Speaker 1: way we ought to be relating to God. All right. Now,
[6:09] Speaker 1: the church gives us this reading as a kind of
[6:12] Speaker 1: propodutic to reading the familiar Martha Mary story. And I
[6:16] Speaker 1: think it does provide the right interpretive framework for this, again,
[6:21] Speaker 1: controversial story. So we hear Jesus enters a village where
[6:27] Speaker 1: a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She has
[6:29] Speaker 1: a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at
[6:33] Speaker 1: his feet, listening to him speak. Now, right away, it's Abraham.
[6:39] Speaker 1: He sees the Lord and he gets to it. He
[6:42] Speaker 1: is completely devoted, dedicated. Well, that's the attitude of Mary
[6:49] Speaker 1: in this story. That's what we're meant to see, is
[6:52] Speaker 1: the Lord has come, Jesus. What do you do when
[6:57] Speaker 1: Jesus presents himself to you? Well, you don't mess around.
[7:00] Speaker 1: You don't say, well, I'll get around to it. Well,
[7:03] Speaker 1: let me take care of, you know, X, Y, and Z.
[7:05] Speaker 1: And then, then, no, no, no. She's about one thing.
[7:11] Speaker 1: She's about one thing. She is focused on the Lord, right?
[7:17] Speaker 1: Then we hear Martha, burdened with much serving, came to
[7:21] Speaker 1: him and said, Laura, don't you care? My sister's left
[7:24] Speaker 1: me by myself to do the serving. Tell her to
[7:25] Speaker 1: help me. Now, here's the point where lots of people
[7:30] Speaker 1: sympathize with Martha. Hey, I get it. There's Mary, just,
[7:34] Speaker 1: you know, she's kind of horsing around there. And I
[7:36] Speaker 1: got this whole party to prepare, and I've got food,
[7:40] Speaker 1: and I've got hospitality, and I'm trying to do my job,
[7:43] Speaker 1: and she's, come on, Lord, tell her to help me. Now,
[7:50] Speaker 1: listen to the Lord's response. The Lord said to her,
[7:54] Speaker 1: to Martha in reply, Martha, Martha, you're anxious and worried
[7:59] Speaker 1: about many things. There's need of only one thing. Mary's
[8:06] Speaker 1: chosen the better part and it will not be taken
[8:09] Speaker 1: from her. Okay. Can I tell you what I think
[8:13] Speaker 1: this story does not mean? And especially with our first
[8:16] Speaker 1: reading in mind, it doesn't mean, oh, the contemplative life
[8:20] Speaker 1: is better than the active life. Mary stands for prayer
[8:24] Speaker 1: and stands for liturgy and all this. And Martha stands
[8:26] Speaker 1: for this kind of busy, active life. and the contemplative
[8:29] Speaker 1: life is clearly superior to the active life. Now, I
[8:32] Speaker 1: know that interpretation has been given up and down the centuries.
[8:35] Speaker 1: I don't think that's what it's about. And one of
[8:38] Speaker 1: the signs is Abraham in that first reading, he's fussing
[8:43] Speaker 1: around with lots of hospitality, fetching water and preparing the meal.
[8:47] Speaker 1: And he's like Martha, isn't he? He's very involved in hospitality.
[8:53] Speaker 1: So you say, okay, well, what's at stake here? What
[8:56] Speaker 1: is the issue? Listen again to the Lord. Martha, Martha,
[9:01] Speaker 1: you are anxious and worried about many things. All right,
[9:07] Speaker 1: this is life, right? We can all identify with her.
[9:11] Speaker 1: Right now, as I record these words, I'm thinking about
[9:13] Speaker 1: the day ahead of me, which has a lot to
[9:15] Speaker 1: do with the governing this diocese of Winona, Rochester. I'm
[9:18] Speaker 1: thinking about a trip I've got to make. I'm thinking
[9:21] Speaker 1: about preparations I have to do for talks. I'm thinking
[9:24] Speaker 1: about this meeting I have in Washington in about 10 days. Yeah,
[9:30] Speaker 1: I'm anxious and upset right now about a lot of
[9:33] Speaker 1: different things. Well, that's life. The problem is when we
[9:40] Speaker 1: become monomaniacally focused on all the little things that are
[9:46] Speaker 1: preoccupying us. We're split. We're divided. We're worried about this
[9:53] Speaker 1: than that. I've talked to you about the monkey mind, right,
[9:57] Speaker 1: that leaps from branch to branch. Well, there's kind of
[9:59] Speaker 1: a version of that I'm I'm worried and anxious about
[10:02] Speaker 1: many things. Mary has chosen, and I've always loved the
[10:10] Speaker 1: Latin of this, the unum necessarium. That means the one
[10:18] Speaker 1: thing necessary. What's that? God and the love of God.
[10:28] Speaker 1: When God comes into your life, God makes himself present.
[10:33] Speaker 1: That's what your whole life is about. Your whole attention
[10:38] Speaker 1: should be focused on God. God, listen now, cannot become
[10:45] Speaker 1: one of the many things that you're worried about. See,
[10:49] Speaker 1: that's a metaphysical mistake. If I say I'm worried about this,
[10:52] Speaker 1: about that, about this person, that person, about this thing,
[10:54] Speaker 1: this trip, and so on, and I'm worried about God,
[10:57] Speaker 1: what have I done? I've made God into some being
[11:00] Speaker 1: in the world. So one of my many preoccupations. God,
[11:06] Speaker 1: we say, with Thomas Aquinas, is the sheer act of
[11:10] Speaker 1: to be itself. That's to say, that which creatively undergirds
[11:15] Speaker 1: and gives rise to all of reality. He's not one
[11:19] Speaker 1: concern among many. God is the unum necessarium, the one
[11:26] Speaker 1: thing necessary. Now watch. When I am completely focused on
[11:33] Speaker 1: God in this intense way, I've not left behind the
[11:39] Speaker 1: many things. Rather, I place the many things in their
[11:45] Speaker 1: proper context and framework. Martha is the splintered soul, the
[11:51] Speaker 1: splintered self, and she's flitting from flower to flower, from
[11:56] Speaker 1: worry to worry, anxious and upset about many things. Mary
[12:02] Speaker 1: has chosen the unum necessaria. So now she's in a
[12:07] Speaker 1: position to handle the many things. See, I'm not playing
[12:13] Speaker 1: one off the other. Like, that's good, that's bad. No,
[12:16] Speaker 1: as Augustine said... Love God. And then love everything else
[12:23] Speaker 1: for the sake of God. Now you got it. Now
[12:27] Speaker 1: you got it. Now you brought Martha and Mary together.
[12:32] Speaker 1: Love God. Unum necessarium. God appears, you run, you worship,
[12:38] Speaker 1: you serve. God is the one thing necessary. And in
[12:44] Speaker 1: that very move, now all the many things I'm concerned
[12:48] Speaker 1: about Find their proper place. Look, we're all sinners. And
[12:54] Speaker 1: so what happens to us is, oh, I'm so worried
[12:57] Speaker 1: about this. I'm so worried about that. Now I'm worried
[12:59] Speaker 1: about this. Oh, yeah, and there's that coming. And before
[13:02] Speaker 1: I know it, I'm a basket case of nerves because
[13:06] Speaker 1: wherever I look, there's something to concern me. How about
[13:12] Speaker 1: I'm focused on the unum necessarium? Okay. Okay. Only in
[13:18] Speaker 1: God is my soul at rest. There's the interior castle.
[13:22] Speaker 1: There's the place of peace. And from that serenity of soul,
[13:27] Speaker 1: I can now find the right attitude toward all the
[13:32] Speaker 1: many things that preoccupy me. I think that's a way
[13:35] Speaker 1: to read Martha and Mary together in light of Abraham.
[13:41] Speaker 1: He's fussing around with lots of activity, but all of
[13:44] Speaker 1: it is grounded in his spirit. complete focus on God
[13:50] Speaker 1: and the things of God. And God bless you.

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