May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
This Sunday we are continuing our encounter with the Letter
of James. Two weeks ago we reflected on
the goodness of God and the virtue of humility.
We meditated upon the consequences of our worship and our desire to
fully live the Amen that we proclaim in the Church. Two weeks ago we asked the Lord to transform
our voices. Last Sunday James invited us
to reflect on our conduct when we gather for worship as the assembly of the
baptized. We heard the counsel of James
not to allow the distinctions of earth to enter into our participation in the
banquet of heaven. We asked the Lord to
transform our eyes so that we could look upon the face of Jesus Christ when we
encounter our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Today, we ask the Lord to transform our lives
so that we can be recognized as companions of Jesus.
In our brief reading from the Letter of James we hear about
the relationship between faith and works.
James asks the question, “What good is it if someone has faith but does
not have works? Can that faith save
him?” James continues, declaring that
“faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” We are again reminded, as we have been each
week in the Letter of James, that we have a responsibility to care for the
poor, because we are disciples of the Christ who was born in a manger. Now we know, dear brothers and sisters, that
work of salvation has been accomplished by Jesus Christ, and that he has
invited us to cooperate with him in the redemption of the world. Therefore as believers in the Good News and
followers of the one who was crucified and now lives forever, we know that
faith and works are not opposed to each other.
What the Letter of James cautions against is the thought that faith is
simply the response of our minds to a set of propositions. The Letter of James rejects the belief that
faith is the acceptance of an idea.
Faith, for James, for Paul, for you and for me, is not the acceptance of
an idea. In faith, we embrace a
person. In faith, and by the power of
the Holy Spirit, we profess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And dear brothers and sisters, the faith that we profess,
just like the worship in which we participate, has consequences. There are consequences in our lives to the
faith that we profess. So if we are to
claim that Jesus Christ is Lord in the Church, then we must proclaim that Jesus
Christ is Lord in the world. And if
Jesus Christ is Lord of the Church and of the world and of each of our lives,
then we must proclaim that he is Lord of every aspect of our lives. That means that Jesus is Lord of my
priesthood and every part of it. It means
that Jesus is Lord of your marriage, and Lord of your family life. It means that Jesus Christ is Lord when you
go to work and Lord when you seek to rest.
It means that Jesus Christ is Lord of every conversation and Lord of
every activity. And it means that Jesus
Christ is Lord even when we go to cast our vote. That is the consequence of our faith because
our faith is living and active. We do
not profess an idea. We profess and we
proclaim a person, and He is living and active.
As we celebrate this Eucharist today, we ask for the grace to
recognize the consequences of our faith.
We seek with the humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to receive the
Lord Jesus as Lord and Redeemer of every aspect of our lives. And we ask for the grace that by the faith we
profess and the witness of our lives, we may be recognized as companions of the
Lord Jesus.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
