So what should we think of our Lord's words when He said, "Mary has chosen the good portion..."?
Christ did not say Martha had chosen the wrong thing and Mary had chosen the right thing. In fact, what Martha had been doing was a good thing. But it was a lesser thing than, at that moment, sitting at the feet of Christ and listening to Him.
Very often we find ourselves doing things which are not wrong in and of themselves, but they are things which can distract us from hearing the voice of God. And when we find ourselves distracted and worried by lots of things, it causes us to neglect the better thing. This is why God commands us to keep holy the Sabbath day. It is not so much for Him as it is for us.
We need a time of stopping our usual activities so we can concentrate on the things of God, and to find renewal in things that we enjoy. This is why it is important for us to make time for prayer, and to spend time before Christ in adoration, and simply to be quiet before God. God knows that we need those things, because it is the way He created us.