Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Peanut butter and jelly, thunder and lightning, macaroni and cheese, Bert and Ernie, movies and popcorn, grilled cheese and tomato soup...it’s difficult to have one without the other--some might say impossible. These pairs exemplify powerful relationships that have been forged over time and etched into the fabric of our society (or at least our taste buds). Our first reading today expounds upon another relationship with far greater implications to our salvation: faith and works. We are asked, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” (Jas 2:14) Is it enough to merely believe in One God, the Father Almighty, etc. as we recite together at mass each week in the Nicene Creed? Does our acknowledgment of God’s existence suffice? Is it okay to go through the motions? Today, we get a resounding ‘NO!’--“faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (Jas 2:17).
I had a professor in college describe it this way. Faith is a noun. It is the state of having trust in God, a radical form of trust. Belief is a verb. It is the act of trusting God--the actions of living out that faith, that radical form of trust that we have in this creed that we commit to live by. In the same way, Jesus challenges us in the gospel to consider our faith by the works of our life. “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life?” (Mk 8:36-37). By professing this radical trust, we are called to live both in faith and by works. My actions at home, work, in the community, on social media, at the grocery store should be a reflection of the words I profess to live by. There’s a catchy phrase that states “actions speak louder than words”--if we allow our faith to fuel our works, our ‘loud’ actions as radical disciples will express radical love from the radical trust we have in the Gospel of Jesus...both faith and works.
Abundant blessings,
Brandon Meyer