Homily for Tuesday, Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Feb.13, 2020
Jas 1: 12-18
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, N.R.

St. James appears to address 2 topics in our 1st reading:  temptation and the gifts of God.

Christ's 3 Temptations

Temptations, James says, arise from our own desires (1:14).  Last Wednesday, Jesus taught his disciples that evil emerges from the human heart; unchastity, theft, envy, etc. come from within and defile a person (Mark 7:21-23).  James is saying the same thing:  “Desire conceives and brings forth sin” (1:15).  Hence the necessity of our filling our hearts and minds with good thoughts, of care in what we watch, read, and listen to.  St. Paul urged the Philippians:  “Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there’s any excellence and if there’s anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (4:8).

Every year on the feast of St. Ignatius, we read in the Office of how his conversion began with his reading the lives of the saints, and from those edifying stories being filled with joy and a desire to imitate them (LOH 3:1566).  We benefit ourselves and our brothers by holy reading, edifying conversation, and due care in our legitimate recreational viewing and reading.

Turning to divine gifts, James tells us that God has blessed us from above, especially with “the word of truth” (1:18).  This word purifies and saves us.  It makes of us God’s harvest of salvation, its “firstfruits” (1:18).  For this we give him thanks; we celebrate Eucharist.