A common factor in today's two readings is that in each one we have someone who is mistaken in judging that others are in the wrong. In the first reading, it's St. Paul, who prior to his conversion thought that the Christians were blasphemers and idolaters. In the Gospel, St. Martha is upset that her sister Mary is just sitting at Jesus' feet instead of helping her.
But both Paul and Martha were wrong. Let's begin with St. Martha. She has a home full of guests whom she's serving out of charity. There's a lot to do and she could really use help, but her sister isn't helping her. If it's charity to serve the guests, isn't Mary being uncharitable by just sitting there? Why doesn't Jesus say something to her? Maybe He's waiting for the right moment, but Martha can't wait. So she goes over to Him and says, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." Then Jesus corrects the woman for her mistake, but it isn't Mary He corrects. St. Augustine says, “Mary was absorbed in the sweetness of our Lord's words. Martha was preparing a feast for the Lord, in whose feast Mary was now rejoicing.” Our Lord corrects her gently, calling her twice by name to lovingly bring her from anxious distraction to clear understanding: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing." The one thing we need is God or the love that unites us to God. This is the better part Mary has chosen, to focus all her attention on the one thing necessary, loving union with God. What Martha is doing is good. What Mary is doing is better.
It is good to take care of the material needs of people, but it's possible to become so involved in doing this that you lose sight of the one thing necessary. Loving union with God is forgotten. Perhaps even the reason why you're serving people is forgotten, so your work degenerates from charity to philanthropy. It can become a way of seeking praise from men rather than God, so that if people don't thank you or praise you, you become upset. St. Martha learned the lesson, and the next time she appears in the Gospel, she is again serving but not anxious and not jealous of her sister's thought.
Saul's error was more serious than Martha's and did more damage. He says, “I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.” He imprisoned Christians and had them punished, even with death. Why? Out of zeal to serve God perfectly. Like Martha, his intention was good, but his judgment was wrong. He explains, “I progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.” This was his goal, to please God by being a perfect Jew. God had revealed His law. God had created the Jewish people, the Jewish nation, and so by obeying the law and the traditions handed down to him, he sought to please God.
He was probably about 12 when he came from Damascus to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, probably at the time the greatest living authority on Judaism. This was a man who could explain to him subtle points about the Torah and speak authoritatively about the traditions of the Pharisees according to the school of Hillel, whose grandson he was. Saul probably was one of his better students and studied under him for many years, probably at least a decade, maybe two decades. He was very confident he knew the right way to serve God, and he excelled in zeal for living in the way that he had been taught.
The Christians appeared to him to be blasphemers intent on destroying Judaism. They wanted to abandon the traditions of the elders and the ceremonial law of the Torah. They identified God, who is all holy and immortal, with Jesus, an executed criminal. He turned his zeal to wiping them out for the glory of God and the good of his people. He was so sure that he was right, but he was so terribly wrong. Thanks to the prayers of St. Stephen and other Christians he persecuted, God had mercy on him and showed him the light on the road to Damascus. Because Christ appeared to him and instructed him directly, he did not immediately consult flesh and blood, human beings. He knew the Gospel, and he knew God wanted him to preach it, so he just did. Almost overnight, he went from trying to destroy the faith to preaching it in synagogues.
In Judea, few had met him in person, but they heard how dramatically he had changed and glorified God for the marvels of His grace. Why is St. Paul saying this? Because he's heard the churches of Galatia are being convinced to adopt Jewish ritual practices, especially circumcision. He reacts with impetuous zeal for the faith, which makes his passionate letter at times a bit hard to follow. But this time his zeal is not wrong. Some Christians, or rather some Jews previous to this, had become Christians without understanding how Christ fulfilled the law. This made them somewhat confused Christians, and the more zealous among them went around explaining that since Christianity was a continuation of Judaism, male Christians had to be circumcised. This was not what St. Paul taught because it's not true.
So in the letter he's explaining his history to say that few Jews were as zealous for the observance of the law as he was. So if he didn't teach the Galatians to get circumcised, there was a good reason. It's no longer necessary, and in fact it's harmful. For a Christian to receive ritual circumcision implies that baptism is inadequate and Christ is not good enough as a Savior. It means that instead of being saved by the grace of Christ, you're going to try to save yourself by observing the law of Moses, as St. Paul had done before his conversion. St. Paul by an extraordinary grace passed from the old covenant to the new. The Galatians are being misled into going from the new covenant to the old. This is such a disastrous mistake that St. Paul doesn't wait to put his thoughts in order before he begins to write to stop them, and so at times he'll break off in mid-sentence to go in a different direction.
Later he addressed the same topic more carefully and extensively in his letter to the Romans, but the passion with which he writes to the Galatians makes it valuable too. It impresses upon us in this way the importance of seeking salvation only through Christ, and Christ willed that salvation come to us in the Church and through the mediation of our Blessed Mother.
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever, now and forever.