Today, in our first reading at daily mass, we hear from the very beginning of the letter of James. This letter is attributed to James the lesser, one of the original group of apostles. In this letter, James presents many teaching of faith and morals, a lot of really good practical advice we can incorporate into our daily reality. He starts out the reading by addressing his brothers and sisters in the faith. He uses the term brothers and sisters 15 times in the letter.
Recently, we heard Jesus proclaims the Beatitudes at our Sunday mass, in which Jesus proclaimed Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute youand utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. James echoes this thought, stating: Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. We do not look to add trials to our lives, but the trails we encounter in life can bring us lessons and blessings on our journey of faith.
Also, in the beginning of the letter, James tells us to pray for wisdom. Wisdom here is not something abstract and academic. It is not just a vast knowledge of Church doctrine. Rather it is a deep insight into how to live the gospel and do God’s work in the world. It is the gift to know that, even in suffering and setbacks, the love of God may be guiding and strengthening us.
James also mentions the love God has for the poor, that the poor should recognize their standing in the eyes of God. We should recognize this in the way it motivates us to reach out to the poor in our community.
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