I think I have never heard a sermon preached on the story of Mary and Martha that did not attempt, somehow, somewhere, to explain away its text. Mary's, of course, was the better part -- the Lord said so, and we must not precisely contradict Him. But we will be careful not to despise Martha. No doubt, He approved of her, too. We could not get on without her, and indeed, having paid lip-service to God's opinion, we must admit that we greatly prefer her, for Martha was doing a really feminine job, whereas Mary was just behaving like any other disciple; and that is a hard pill to swallow.
permalink source: Dorothy L. Sayers, Unpopular Opinions [1946]These people do not know that while Barak trembled, Deborah saved Israel, that Esther delivered from supreme peril the children of God. Is it not to women that our Lord appeared after His Resurrection? Yes, and the men could then blush for not having sought what the women had found. Citation: Jerome, after criticism for dedicating his books to women. "Women in the Early Church," Christian History, Issue 17.
permalink source: Anonymous