Ave Maria!
Fifth Sunday after Easter—17 May
AD 2009
“Religion pure and undefiled before God
the Father is this:
to give aid to orphans and widows in their tribulation,
and to keep one's self unspotted from this world.”
Ordinary of the Mass
Mass Text - Latin
Mass Text - English
I hope that you have been following the
Scripture reading outline that I print each month in the Parish Bulletin—for
it had us reading Saint James’ Epistle during the past week, and it is not a
coincidence that Saint James’ Epistle was the source of the first reading both
this week and last. It usually helps to read more than the Scripture
assigned to the Mass—it helps to put it in proper context. James is
particularly important for he offers a balance to Saint Paul whom we read far
more often.
Paul wrote extensively about the need
for Faith—the belief in what God has revealed to be true about Himself and His
Moral Law. Paul also energetically maintained that the ritual
prescriptions of the Law of Moses were no longer binding. He referred to
them as “works of the Law—things like circumcision, offering the sacrifices
of the Temple, and keeping the Kosher food laws.
Paul often had to contend with the “Judaizers”—those who insisted that one
first had to become Jewish and follow the Jewish Law in order to become
Christian. Paul’s point was that salvation ultimately came through
belief in God’s revelation, rather than through mere ritual.
Paul generally used the word “justification.”
But “justification” is a long way from “salvation.”
Our Faith, sealed with the Sacrament of Baptism, leaves us justified—that is
to say that it makes us capable of doing things that are pleasing to God as His
adopted sons and daughters. Justification makes us capable of things which
earn an eternal reward, and which atone for sin—but it doesn’t guarantee
that we will in fact do such things—we are still capable of falling from
grace, and of failing to do what is pleasing to God. Saint James’ point,
which is critical to eternal happiness, is that the Baptized person must do good
to those around him, and keep himself uncontaminated by the “constantly
changing allurements of the world.”
In this same Epistle, Saint James tells us twice that “faith without works is
dead.”
Belief is not enough, he reminds
us: “Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: but the
devils also believe, and yet tremble.”
Saint James is ultimately practical:
“If a brother or sister be naked, and want daily food: And one of you say
to them: ‘Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled’; yet give them not those
things that are necessary for the body, what shall it profit? So faith
also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.”
In saint Matthew’s Gospel, our Lord
was rather specific about the need for charitable works as a condition of
salvation—when we do for those in need, we do for the Lord Himself:
“Lord, when did we see thee hungry,
and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when did we see thee a
stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? Or when did we see
thee sick or in prison, and came to thee?” ... “Amen I say to you, as long
as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.”
The Church refers to these good works as
the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. You know them from the Catechism:
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Corporal Works of Mercy
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Spiritual Works of Mercy
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To feed the hungry;
To give drink to the
thirsty;
To clothe the naked;
To harbour the harbourless;
To visit the sick;
To ransom the captive;
To bury the dead.
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To instruct the ignorant
To counsel the doubtful
To admonish sinners;
To bear wrongs patiently;
To forgive offences
willingly;
To comfort the afflicted;
To pray for the living and
the dead.
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Both the physical and spiritual works
are necessary, for the soul and the body constitute a unity. It is not
enough alone to feed the hungry, not is it enough alone to pray for them—the
unity of body and soul which is man requires both.
We should do all of these things, both
to honor God, and to atone for our sins. Remember that it is better to do
penance here on earth, where our works have merit, than to do the penance of
Purgatory where they do not.
If you read the material outlined in the
Bulletin, you know that Saint James also wrote about the dangers of careless
speech: “With the same tongue we bless God the father; and with it we
curse men.”
He warns about discord among Christians, what can be done to avoid it, and what
can be done to possess true wisdom. If you haven’t read the Epistle—it
is only five chapters—I urge you to do so.
But for today, let us close by
acknowledging that the other part of Saint James’ message today was to “keep
one’s self unspotted from the world.” This means, at least to
observe the Commandments, but should go far beyond that minimum. We should
be creatures that are concerned more with the things of heaven than with the
things of earth.
So, as we approach the close of this
Paschal Season, let us resolve to “be doers of the word, and not hearers
only.” Keep those Commandments, practice the spiritual and corporal
works of mercy, and raise your minds and your hearts above the things of the
earth to the things of God.
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