20220218 AUTHENTIC FAITH
18 February, 2022, Friday, Week 6 in Ordinary Time
First reading |
James 2:14-24,26 © |
A body dies without spirit; faith without good works is not alive
Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save him? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.
This is the way to talk to people of that kind: ‘You say you have faith and I have good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds – now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show. You believe in the one God – that is creditable enough, but the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Do realise, you senseless man, that faith without good deeds is useless. You surely know that Abraham our father was justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar? There you see it: faith and deeds were working together; his faith became perfect by what he did. This is what scripture really means when it says: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was counted as making him justified; and that is why he was called ‘the friend of God.’
You see now that it is by doing something good, and not only by believing, that a man is justified. A body dies when it is separated from the spirit, and in the same way faith is dead if it is separated from good deeds.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 111(112):1-6 © |
Happy the man who takes delight in the commands of the Lord.
Happy the man who fears the Lord,
who takes delight in all his commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth;
the children of the upright are blessed.
Happy the man who takes delight in the commands of the Lord.
Riches and wealth are in his house;
his justice stands firm for ever.
He is a light in the darkness for the upright:
he is generous, merciful and just.
Happy the man who takes delight in the commands of the Lord.
The good man takes pity and lends,
he conducts his affairs with honour.
The just man will never waver:
he will be remembered for ever.
Happy the man who takes delight in the commands of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | 1Jn2:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 8:34-9:1 © |
Anyone who loses his life for my sake will save it
Jesus called the people and his disciples to him and said:
‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to win the whole world and ruin his life? And indeed what can a man offer in exchange for his life? For if anyone in this adulterous and sinful generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’ And he said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.’
AUTHENTIC FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JAMES 2:14-24, 26; PS 112:1-6; MK 8:34-9:1]
What kind of faith is required of us to be saved? In the first reading, St James differentiates three types of faith. There is the faith of the Christian who separates his devotion to God from his moral life. He claims to have faith in God but he has no deeds to show. He wrote, “Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save him? Faith is like that: If good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.” The second kind of faith is a notional faith. It is the faith of the demons. They believe in God but do not live out their beliefs. He said, “You believe in the one God – that is credible enough, but the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Do you realise, you senseless man, that faith without goods deeds is useless.” Indeed, the demons know who God is and yet refuse to submit to His sovereignty. There are many people in the world who know that there is God but do not worship Him or submit to Him. Worst of all, they know God and yet live an evil life. Such kind of notional faith cannot help us to live a better life.
Necessarily, the only kind of faith that is a saving faith is one that believes and does. St James wrote, “You say you have faith and I have good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds – now you prove to me that you have faith without any goods deeds to show.” St James is clear; a living faith must be demonstrated in a life of charity, especially towards those in need. To profess our faith in God but lacking in charity and compassion towards the suffering indicates that we do not truly believe in God or in Christ because we have been commanded by the Law and the gospel to care for the poor and to live a life of integrity. Clearly someone who claims to love God or have faith in Christ, must manifest this faith in concrete deeds. Without a moral life and a life of charity shows that we do not have faith. St James gives the concrete example of Abraham whose faith was manifested in the sacrifice of Isaac. “You surely know that Abraham our father was justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar? There you see it: faith and deeds were working together; his faith became perfect by what he did. This is what scripture really means when it says: Abraham put his faith in God; and this was counted as making him justified; and that is why he was called ‘the friend of God.'”
However, we must be careful not to read St James letter as opposed to St Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith through grace alone. There is no contradiction between St Paul and St James with regard to a saving faith. St James is not saying that good works alone is enough to save us, as if we can prove ourselves as worthy to be saved by doing good works. Rather, he was concerned about Christians living a dichotomy of faith and life. This indeed is how many Christians live today. So the scandal in St James’ community is applicable to us as well. It is really scandalous that even in our Christian community, we separate the rich from the poor, and social status determines how well we are treated. Discrimination and preferential treatment is so real and so tempting because of the lack of an authentic faith in the life of us Christians, including our leaders.
St Paul’s concern too was not primarily about salvation of the non-Christians or non-believers. He wrote against the Jewish Christians who were still clinging to the Law of Moses, particularly the customs and the rituals governing hygiene and social life. They were still slaves to the Laws and as a consequence was dividing the Christian community, alienating the Gentile Christians, but most of all, it appears that their faith in Christ was just added on and they did not really believe that Christ’s passion, death and resurrection saved them. They still relied on good works, proving themselves before God and yet they knew clearly that none of them could stand before the judgment of God if not for His mercy and forgiveness. They still refused to understand that salvation is faith in Christ through grace alone.
But an authentic faith is not merely living a life of charity and integrity, it means a decisive following of Christ. This is what the gospel is asking of us. Anyone who believes in Christ must not just follow His teaching and example but seeing life and living it from His perspective. This is the litmus test of faith. Earlier on, St Peter confessed his faith in Christ as the Son of the Living God. What was our Lord’s response? He commanded them to keep the revelation from others. “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mk 8:31)
What was the reaction of Peter? He “took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.'” (Mk 8:32f) Although Peter got the right answer about Jesus’ true identity, he did not understand the depth of his confession, a separation between knowledge and a living faith. Otherwise, how can we explain that the apostles were still fighting among themselves over position and glory when Jesus came to His glory, or Peter’s’ rejection of Jesus’ passion prophecy. In fact, they were still thinking of the Messiahship in political and triumphalist terms. They could not see the way Jesus saw His mission and the way God would bring about the restoration of the Kingdom of God.
Today’s gospel therefore calls for a change of mindset, putting on the ways of God rather than seeing from the perspective of man. When Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me”, He was not simply saying that we are to carry our own cross, our suffering that comes from daily living patiently. Rather, He asked for self-renunciation. The context of Jesus’ command is the cross that He had to carry as the Son of Man. This cross that Jesus carried was more than living a simple lifestyle or bearing the inconvenience of daily life but rather, it was the cross that was carried on account of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
For Jesus, the invitation to deny oneself is more than just a call for self-denial. It was to accept the plan of God for our Lord. It must be seen in the context of Jesus’ response to Peter when he remonstrated with Him on His passion prophecy. Underlying Peter’s objection was his denial and rejection of God’s will for the Messiah to see death. For Peter and the apostles, a dead Messiah served no purpose and would be a failure. After all, the apostles still could not understand the true identity of our Lord. They thought and hoped that His mission was a political mission of re-establishing Israel and overthrowing the Roman Conquerors. Furthermore, we read of the apostles’ squabbling for places on the right and left of our Lord when He came to His glory.
To deny oneself means to look at human life and the passion of Christ from God’s viewpoint. Life belongs to God and He is in charge of our lives. Jesus made it clear, “For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to win the whole world and ruin his life? And indeed what can man offer in exchange for his life?” Faith in this case calls for a total trust in God. It means risking our lives for the Kingdom, living out the values that the Lord has taught us, of self-sacrifice, of generosity, of truth and compassion. By giving up our lives and not just carrying our own crosses, we live life to the fullest like our Lord. By giving up our security and placing our trust in Him, requires faith. But when we surrender our lives to Him and empty ourselves for the service of others, we find our lives enriched and full.
Indeed, many of us lack the faith to trust in our Lord completely. Most of us want to grab more and more for ourselves. We put our security in our bank account and in our investments. Few would be willing to surrender everything into His own hands. Today, an authentic faith must express itself in renouncing the ways of the world, accepting the gospel’s blueprint to a blessed life, lived in selfless love and service, trusting in our Lord to provide us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment