Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary time

Today's Mass Readings

One of the important teachings of the Protestant Reformation is justification (salvation) by faith alone. Protestants often wonder why Catholics have historically rejected this Reformation teaching, which they often claim is taught by the Bible. The reason of course is that the phrase "faith alone" occurs only once in the entire Bible, and we encounter that phrase in today's first reading from the Letter of St. James: "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24). Protestants and Catholics share the same New Testament, which includes the Book of James. In their defense, Protestants who hold "faith alone" usually do so for very good reasons. St. Paul teaches, e.g. in Romans 3:28, that "a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law." Of course, "works of the law" is not to be equated with everything. But the Protestant point is a valid one, namely that we cannot earn salvation, it is a free gift of God. This is biblical (see, e.g., Ephesians 2:8-10). We have been saved by grace, not by works (shorthand in Pauline literature here for works of the law, unlike in James who is focusing on any form of doing good). The Catholic Church, e.g. at the Council of Trent which addressed Protestant questions, agreed with the Protestant Reformers that we are justified (saved) by grace alone, as a free gift of God. That same council, however, condemned the idea of justification (salvation) by faith alone.

This history is complicated by the fact that the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Lutheran World Federation in 1999, where both groups permit the use of the phrase justificaiton by "faith alone," provided that such faith is understood as not alone, but rather the living faith that today's reading from James 2 describes.

Likewise, when Catholics speak about justification and salvation by faith and works, they do not mean that such works earn salvation. Rather, both faith and works are understood as gifts from God. We cooperate with God's grace. This is precisely what St. James is writing about in today's reading. As Christians we are called to cooperate with God's grace. We should not simply wish others well, but we are called to go further and help them out.

So what does this mean for us today? It means that we need to put our faith into action. We need to show our faith by our good deeds, recognizing that such good deeds are not done on our own, but are expressions of our cooperation with God's grace. Let's take some time today to reflect on ways in which we can better put our faith into action. Let's ask ourselves, "What can I do to have a living faith, and not simply a faith in the head or faith in the heart?" Let's allow our faith to animate our lives, because faith works through obedience to God and love of neighbor.

- Jeff Morrow