Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” This is an incredible and even a seemingly scandalous phrase from the first reading today. What other religion believes in a god that will draw near to them? But James also gives us a condition. We see a both-and relationship of us and God and the work we put forth. There are two really big takeaways from this little phrase.
One: We do actually have to do something. One extreme often taken in Christianity is that because God loves us where we are (a very true and beautiful statement), this means we can be content with staying there. I mean, God will still love us, right? Now imagine a husband saying this about his wife. “Ah, she loves me no matter what, so I can just chill, eat pork rinds, and watch football all day and she will keep on loving.” I think we can agree there is something vastly wrong with this picture. God is a jealous God, as is said many times in Scripture, including today’s passage from James. James makes it clear that faith alone is not enough. To be in relationship means we will want to do good for the other strictly because of our love for them.
Two: If one extreme is a belief that faith is enough; the other extreme is that we have to rack up enough golden stars in order for St. Peter to let us through the pearly gates. Outside criticism of Catholicism is that we work our way to Heaven. But what today’s reading shows that the whole burden isn’t on us. In fact, it was actually a heresy from the 5th Century called Pelagianism. God helps us on this journey. It is only by His grace that we can pursue Him. God gives us His grace (especially in and through the sacraments) so that we can continually draw nearer to Him.
James says that God will “draw near to you.” WHAT!!!??? The God who created the entire cosmos will draw closer to YOU! Jesus Himself affirms this in the Gospel today, saying “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
In typical Catholic style, we see a both-and relationship of faith and works. We absolutely have to pursue God and show acts of love in order to be counted among His faithful, but that doesn’t mean that we do it by our own strength. We must enter into this divine love affair and share in the love of God.
- Zach Jarrell