9/13/2015 – 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time – James 2:14-18

    We continue with our readings from the Letter of James this Sunday. This letter always has such practical advice on how we Christians can really live out our faith, so there is always so much to reflect upon in James.  In our reading from the first chapter of James two weeks ago, we were challenged to “be doers of (God’s) word and not hearers only, deluding (ourselves).”  Today's reading builds upon that theme, telling us that we not only need faith, but that our faith needs to bring forth good works.  I remember in college, a friend of mine told me she was reading a book in her religion class entitled Faith is a Verb, and that way of looking at our faith always stuck with me. Indeed, our faith is not to be a series of theories or ideas, but rather it is to be a practical way of living based on the revelation of Jesus that brings us new life. Faith is not just mentally or spiritually opening up ourselves to Christ – it is nothing if we don’t truly follow Christ in our daily lives. Our faith urges us and nudges us and compels us to action.  It calls us to spiritual and corporal works of mercy.  According to James, if we have faith without any works, then our faith is dead.  Our faith is to be active and alive, not rigid or static or inflexible.  Our faith is to constantly be emerging and developing.

     Last week, I was participating in a webinar sponsored by the Symbolon program that we are using in our RCIA class this year.  I heard a statistic that should shake all of us out of our complacency.  Of the more than 321 million Americans, about 30 million identify themselves as former Catholics.  And of that number, about 24 million of those Catholics left the Church before the age of 25.  Part of what I see is that many of them left the Church because they never were fully engaged in their faith to begin with.  We devote a lot of time and resource to forming our children and youth in our faith, but if our children and youth do not come to class or to mass or to the events that we have, how are they going to feel a connection to our faith, how are they going to want journey through life as Catholic adults when they reach that age. Religious education classes and our youth group complement each other – the youth get to have time to study the faith and to learn our Catholic traditions, but they also have time to have fun and to socialize and to discuss how their faith impacts their daily lives. And for our youth and children, doing works of mercy and helping others is a very tangible way for them to see how our faith can really make a difference in the world.

     Our reading from James is sometimes misunderstood, especially as to what our Church officially teaches.  Our salvation comes to us as a freely given gift from God – it is not something we can earn or do on our own.  We are never justified before God by our own works and our own efforts.  But, as James notes today, our faith is to bear fruits and to have a real impact in our lives.  Our faith is to spur us to action, to have our will and desires and actions to cooperate with God’s will and God’s calling for us.  I brought the image of St Francis of Assisi today, because Francis is a good example of a Christian who really felt the faith and calling from God in his heart, but also lived out his faith in his words and his actions. This framed image of St Francis was given to me by a man, Michael Madison, who passed away at Sanctuary Hospice a couple of weeks ago. He wanted me to have this image after he died, and we have it now on the wall of our parish offices.  Francis was born in the 12^th century, more than 800 years ago, but his example and the way he lived out his faith speaks to us so strongly in the modern world today, so much so that Pope Francis took his name from St Francis of Assisi to communicate his special love for the poor and all of God’s creation. In a few months, on December 8, we will start celebrating the Year of Mercy in our Church, as declared by Pope Francis.  Hopefully, all of us will be thinking of ways we can live out our faith and God’s love and mercy in our lives. May our faith and our actions and our good works always complement one another.