[You] are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing. – Luke 10: 41-42
I really love this tender portrait of an evening dinner which Jesus spends at the home his close friends Mary and Martha. In the past, I have tended to identify with Martha – a dedicated hard worker, perhaps not very patient with those I perceive to be less so. I often heard this passage as an admonition to slow down and make sure I found some times for quiet prayer.
Today, I find myself hearing the Word differently. Retired from an active ministry, now living in a Jesuit health care community, going to dialysis three days a week.
I hear Jesus say to me more directly, “Andy, only one thing is necessary now. Let go of a pile of worries and anxieties. Listen to me. Listen to me tell you I love you. Listen to me forgive you with tender mercy. Let yourself enjoy my affection for you. Feel comforted and enjoy just being with me. Me in you; you in me. “
Dear Lord of my life, thank you for this deep gift today, inviting me to receive your love and your grace, being rich enough and asking for nothing more. Please bless your people with these gifts of your love. Let us be a welcoming, merciful church, missionary to the core, announcing the Good News of your love, offering us a vision of a church of Justice for all. Amen.
Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ
Co-founder of Creighton’s Online Ministries, Retired 2025
I served at Creighton from 1996 to 2025. I served as Vice-president for Mission for three Presidents, directed the Collaborative Ministry Office and co-founded the Online Ministries website.
I loved seeing the number of faculty and staff who over the years really took up the mission as their own and made Creighton the Jesuit university it is today. I was also consoled to witness the website – a collaborative effort - touch the hearts of so many around the world.
I’m now living at St. Camillus – a Jesuit care facility in Milwaukee. Many of my days are spent dealing with my own health issues, as I carry out the mission we’ve been given, “to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus.”
