For five Sundays this summer, concluding with last Sunday’s Mass celebration, we heard from the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel. In those Gospel readings, we heard of Jesus feeding the hungry crowd with the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, we heard of Jesus telling the crowd that he is the bread of life who has come down from heaven, that we are to receive his body and blood as nourishment in order for us to have eternal life. Those words from John’s Gospel are so important to us as Catholics; they are integral to what we believe about the Eucharist. For us, the Eucharist is not just about what we receive, but the Eucharist is a way of life as we the members of the Church make up the Body of Christ here on earth.
Today, we will start hearing from the letter of James in our second readings, which we will also hear in our Sunday Masses five weeks in a row. The Letter of James was written to challenge believers who said they had faith, yet who did not live out their faith in their actions. We hear a famous verse from the first chapter of James today, which encourages us to “be doers of the word, not hearers only.” In a couple of weeks, we will hear a statement in James which is at the center of much discussion in the Christian world, which tells us that ‘faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
Just prior to telling us that we are to be doers of God’s word, not just hearers of his word, the Letter of James tells us to humbly welcome the word that has been planted in us and that is able to save our soul. James doesn’t want us to only hear the word; he wants us to believe God’s word and do what it says. Someone who “only” hears the word is someone who attends church, hears the Bible readings and the homily, but is completely unaffected by it. This is not hearing with faith. This is not hearing with repentance and the fruits of repentance. This is hearing only.
James wants us to realize that true faith in Jesus, a faith that always comes about through God’s grace, will always lead to action. True faith is an active faith. James gives us an example that is excluded from today’s reading, as he states: “if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.” So, we look in the mirror in the morning, and we see a smudge on our face, a tear on our shirt, or a thread hanging off our clothing, we just don’t go away, we fix it, right? God’s word is like the mirror that we look at when we get dressed. God’s word shows us what is true about ourselves. When we see that we are not living out our true identity as a disciple of Christ, we should want to address it.
As we hear this letter of James today, I think of the feast day of St Augustine which we celebrated last Wednesday. One of my favorite poets is the American poet Mary Oliver. She says this about St Augustine in a prose poem: “Things take the time they take. Don't worry. How many roads did St. Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?” St Augustine of Hippo, born in northern Africa in the middle of 4th century, is one of the most influential theologians in the history of Christianity. Yet, if you know anything about St Augustine and his life, you know that it is how God’s word transformed him, how he became a doer of God’s word, is how he became the St Augustine that we know and revere today. His life as a young man was not characterized by Christian morality. He was searching for meaning everywhere, often in not very good places. Not only in partying and womanizing, but in following a certain philosophy, only to discard that philosophy when he discovered a new one. He followed the Manichean philosophy for 9 years, and then drifted away from that when it no longer satisfied his search. Teaching rhetoric in Milan at the time, he happened to hear the preaching of St Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. Ambrose led Augustine to a new understanding of the Bible and of the Christian faith. Augustine heard God telling him to pick up the Bible and to read it. He opened up a Bible and read this passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13: 13-14). Augustine knew that he needed to live that message out in his life. A year later, he was baptized a Christian by St Ambrose and there was no turning back in the life of St Augustine as a disciple of Christ - no turning back ever. No more looking for meaning in parties and in the ephemeral pleasures of this world. No more going from one philosophy to another. Reflecting upon his experiences, Augustine wrote this: “You have made us for yourself, Lord; our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
What can we do in our lives to not just hear God’s word, but to be a doer of the word? Well, I would like to suggest a few things. Pray and read the Bible and listen to God’s word as it is presented to us by the holy Church. However, also be a person of action. Reach out to the poor, the sick, and the lonely. Evangelize others out of your faith. Volunteer in a ministry at church. Teach or help out in our religious education program. Don’t just ask what your Church and your faith can do for you. Be a servant just as Christ was a servant - put your faith into action.
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