-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at USCCB.org>>>>
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 11:00am
Working: definition 5 : being in use or operation
The type of faith that St James is describing and Jesus is witnessing to is "faith that works". What I mean is that the effect of faith on one's real life is a "faith that works" - it is accomplishing the effect in life that it is intended to do.
When Jesus asked his disciples who people say that he is, he is asking if in fact his faith is effective, is it working? He also explains the need to allow faith to work in your life which is manifest by the cross. If the faith that Jesus has come to give us is working in our lives then we will pick up our cross and follow him. Losing our life is the symptom of faith at work in our lives.
Like a fever, laying down your life, detachment from life in this world, a lack of reliance upon success in this life - this is the symptom of a lively or living faith-as St. James would call it.
So, do you have works of faith in your life? Are there observable symptoms of a living faith in your life? Is the dying and rising of Jesus evident in your daily life? This is faith.
2 comments:
Thanks for the encouragement & direction, Father. This whole process of growth in faith and works reminds me of how children develop in six month increments of equilibrium versus disequilibrium, a roller coaster of development until relative maturity at 20 or so.
In younger years I used to think the things I did were great (ego!) and motives were impure. As I've grown in faith I've come to realize I'm just living the life the Lord intends, nothing more and sometimes less. And there is GREAT joy which has grown greater with time in the ordinary things of love through duty and responsibility. I'm even fond of hidden works, those things that no one may ever know of or observe but done with love of Christ in mind.
I like this description of St. James’ teaching – “faith that works.” It did help me consider my life from that viewpoint – could I see evidence of faith at work in my life? And then I liked JoyF’s comment about her development – in her youth, her accomplishments were great but motives impure, but in time this turned around. It made me consider the possibility of my motives being a pretty good indication of the extent of faith working in my life, too – and I think it's true that I have matured in that regard, with always more room to grow. That’s a fever worth catching.
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