Faith and works are the subject of today’s reading
from the letter of James. Faith is more than an intellectual assent, it is
more than just placing our trust and hope in God. We typically think of faith as a noun, but in a
spiritual sense, faith is a verb. Faith
is action and doing. We don’t have works come out of faith to justify
our faith or to prove our salvation. Our good works flow out of our faith like fruit
growing from a tree that is tended properly, that is nourished and developed. A person who lovingly trusts God, who is obedient
to God, will overflow with works in his life. God is not satisfied with just our sacrificial
offerings, but rather asks of us our obedience and our trust.
Often times, when someone comes to me for the
sacrament of reconciliation, I give that person a penance that involves a good
work coming out of his faith. Sometimes
a child is asked to do a chore around the house that he doesn’t normally do if
the sin was committed against a parent.
Or someone is asked to do a random act of kindness for a friend or
family member or even a stranger to make amends for what he did. Our good works are to flow out of faith, but also
they reinforce and compliment and develop our faith. Indeed, you could say that faith and works
naturally go together.
No comments:
Post a Comment