24th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Sept. 16, 2012
James 2: 14-18
St. Vincent’s Hospital, Harrison, N.Y.
“Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead”
(James 2: 17).
2 Sundays ago we began to read from the Letter of St.
James, which has a strong emphasis on attention to the poor. For instance, 2 weeks ago we heard, “Religion
that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their
affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (1:27). That note struck a balance between attention
to the needy and one’s personal purity of life and attitude. Last week we heard James admonish us about
making favorable distinctions toward the rich and unfavorable ones toward the
poor, and then ask us, “Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to
be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love
him?” (2:1-5).
Today, he reminds us that our faith has to include
practice: not only talking the talk but
also walking the walk, as they say.
Again, this is in the context of sharing our worldly goods with the
poor: “If a brother or sister has
nothing to wear and has no food for the day,” what good does it do the poor
person if we offer him nothing but a good luck wish? (2:15-16). If our faith is living, if our faith means
anything, if our faith is real, then we have to act!
As it happens, studies of charitable giving in this
country have shown repeatedly that the most generous givers are religious
people. They give to their churches, of
course, but also to other religious and charitable organizations like
missionary fundraisers, United Way,
the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts; to public philanthropies like hospitals,
libraries, symphony orchestras, volunteer fire departments; and to special
needs like earthquake or storm relief.
The least generous people are the most secular people, the ones with
little or no religious connection. So,
collectively, Christians (and other religious people) seem to be practicing
what St. James urges upon us.
What about us individually? That, of course, is a question we have to ask
ourselves. Do I share my resources, my
time, my talents with the less fortunate:
the poor, the hungry, the unemployed, the immigrant, children, those in
nursing homes, et al.?
Good works means more than care for the poor and
unfortunate, however. As I noted, St.
James also refers to our purity of life and attitude. In chapter 3, he speaks of sins of the
tongue—something I’m sure we’re all familiar with, things like lying, slander
and other gossip, swearing, boasting. In
chapter 4 he mentions envy, physical violence, adultery.
Paul preaching (Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Rome) |
If we turn to St.
Paul’s letters, we find other sorts of works that
should be avoided. He asks the
Corinthians, “Don’t you know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Don’t be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor
boy prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor
drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God”
(I, 6:9-10). Likewise, he reminds St.
Timothy that “murderers, the unchaste, practicing homosexuals, kidnapers,
liars, perjurers” also are under condemnation (I, 1:9-10).
On the contrary, our faith ought to lead us to be pure in
our thoughts and conduct, faithful to our spouses, honest and kind in our
speech, modest and sober with food and drink, etc. Is this hard?
As a certain former vice presidential candidate might say, “You
betcha!” And in the gospel reading
today, Jesus told us precisely that if we would belong to him—if we would
inherit the kingdom of God, in St.
Paul’s terminology—then we have to deny ourselves,
take up our crosses, and follow him.
Whoever would save his life in this world—and his reputation and his
worldly goods—will have to lose it, sacrifice it, for Jesus’ sake (Mark 8:34-35).
What do I mean?
Take for an example Tim Tebow.
Doesn’t an awful lot of society think he’s a bit odd? You know, preaching (quietly) and apparently
practicing sexual purity? Isn’t most of
the world—so we’re led to believe—more like Lindsay Lohan or Prince Harry? (Probably not, actually, and I suspect most
people are glad of that. But you
wouldn’t know that from all the media attention they, and the sorts of antics
they engage in, get.)
And Jesus says, don’t be concerned about what the world
thinks! Take up your cross and follow
me! Be pure. Be honest.
Be forgiving. Be patient. Be modest.
Give of yourself to others.
There’s another sort of work that has to be motivated by
our faith. You may have noticed that
this is a political year? Every 4 years
the bishops of the U.S.
publish a somewhat long guide to the major issues that Catholics and other
people of faith should be looking at.
Last time around, and again this time, it’s called “Forming Consciences
for Faithful Citizens.”
The bishops tell us, “The Church’s obligation to
participate in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our
faith” (n. 9). “The Church” doesn’t mean
just the bishops. It means you and
me. One of the works of faith that we
must do as followers of Jesus is to “shape the moral character of
society.” They say a little further on,
“Participation in political life is a moral obligation” (n. 13).
The defining factor in the character of our society, they
say, “is respect for the dignity of every person” (n. 10). So everything they we do as citizens, as
political persons in our democratic society, has to be based on human
dignity. The bishops add, “We are called
to bring together our principles and our political choices, our values and
votes, to help build a better world” (n. 14).
As their document goes on, the bishops make distinctions
between fundamental moral values and secondary matters, or matters that might
be judged to be the means toward a more fundamental goal. They identify certain things that are always
wrong, must always be opposed, can never be supported—in our personal behavior,
obviously, but not in our voting either.
At the top of that list is “the direct and intentional destruction of
innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death” (n.
28). In other words, you can never,
never support abortion, the destruction of human embryos, assisted suicide,
so-called mercy killing, or the intentional killing of non-combatants in war,
nor vote for a candidate who favors those grave violations of human dignity.
Then the bishops list “racism and other unjust
discrimination,” the death penalty, unjust war, torture, war crimes, “the
failure to respond to those suffering from hunger or a lack of health care”
(sounds like St. James), and “an unjust immigration policy” (n. 29).
Something else worth mentioning here is this: “The family is the basic cell of human
society. The role, responsibilities, and
needs of families should be central national priorities. Marriage must be defined, recognized, and
protected as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, and as the source
of the next generation and the protective haven for children” (n. 70).
The document goes on a great length: 30 pages of text in my printout from the
USCCB Website.
So—one of the works that we as Catholics are obliged to do
this November is to vote. But before
that, we are obliged to know where candidates stand on various issues, and then
vote not for a party or a gender or a race or a religion or the most telegenic
persons; but for the candidates who will best defend and promote human dignity
for Americans and for everyone else—those universal, God-given human rights of
“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that you’ve heard of. That’s how we need to size up the candidates
for President, for U.S.
senator, for U.S representative, for the state legislature, for the state
courts, for whatever office.
May we be able to say together with St. James, “I will
demonstrate my faith to you from my works” (2:18)—in our private, personal
lives and in our public lives as citizens.
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