This is the last of 5 readings from the Letter of James that we will hear in our Sunday Masses. I love these messages we have been hearing from James. It gives us good practical advice on how to live out our faith. It is good advice for all of us. In particular, I see it as really good advice for young Catholics: for youth, college students, and young adults. The message that we’ve been hearing from James is that we need to be doers of God’s word, not just hearers; that our faith is just not something that should remains in our hearts, but also to bear fruit in the world.
I keep a blog with homilies and reflections. I actually started that blog about 10 years ago when I was pastor up in Yazoo City and Belzoni. I was looking at the blog last night - I have more than 6,000 posts so far. I was looking at an entry I made for this week in 2015; it was the week of the Pope’s visit to the US. Our country was so excited about his visit. It is interesting that we have been hearing from James these past five weeks coincides with what we heard from the Pope on his visit to the US, as he stressed how we as Christ’s disciples are obligated to be good stewards of the environment, and how we are to treat the poor and the stranger in our midst with dignity and respect. Pope Francis showed this with his actions, not just his words, in harmony with what James tells us.The Pope visited a shelter for the homeless run by Catholic Charities in Washington DC, where he told the residents that he saw the face of St Joseph in them, as Joseph was man who had no shelter and no home in which his child could be born. The Pope also visited poor inner-city Catholic School in East Harlem, New York. Many people who heard the Pope’s address to Congress back in 2015 were impressed with the four Americans he mentioned as people of faith and doers of God’s Word: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. Though many Catholics are familiar with Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, two very vibrant Catholics who lived in the 20th century, many in the secular media did not know much about them; they were scrambling to find out who they were. Unfortunately, the media can be a bit myopic and closed minded in their knowledge. Both Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton lived very secular worldly lives as young adults very much apart from God. However, once they had conversions of heart, they had a very enthusiastic committed faith. Pope Francis praised Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, for her social activism, her passion for justice, and her love for the poor and the oppressed. He singled out Thomas Merton’s work toward greater respect and dialogue between different cultures and religions, and in the way he challenged the assumptions of his day. Merton did this while living as a Trappist monk in the Abbey of Gethsemene in Kentucky.
The Pope’s actions, and the examples he gave, are in contrast to those whom James points out in his letter, of the rich who store up their material wealth and possessions, but who do so on the backs of the poor whom they disrespect and oppress. They have great material rewards here on earth, but will not find their reward in God’s Kingdom. We can use our influence and riches to help others, in works of kindness and mercy. We can earn a good living and still follow the values of the Gospel, or we can use our wealth and riches in ways that do not proclaim God’s Kingdom on earth.
In the Gospel today, we see the disciples wanting to exclude those who do good works in Jesus’ name but who are not part of their group of disciples. We see in Pope Francis a desire for us to dialogue and work together, to find common ground and to care for the well-being of all. So many people in the world today see our reality as the insiders vs the outsiders, as the liberals vs the conservatives, as one country vs another, as us vs them. Pope Francis sees it differently. Our Catholic faith sees it differently. This is one quote from Pope Francis that I took away from his address to Congress: "Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples." That quote was relevant when he said it in 2015. It is relevant today. It is a message that brings us together, that does not conquer or divide. And we have seen American society become more divisive year and year. May we talk to heart the message that the values of faith and the values of the Gospel bring to us in the midst of our reality.
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