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The inner word

13 Sep 2015 - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

The Letter of James has some of the strongest language in scripture about the necessity of living your faith. From two weeks ago: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only” (1:22); and today: “If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?” At every Sunday Eucharist the assembly prays for the needs of the church, public authorities and the world, those oppressed by any need, and the local community. To pray for others is a good, generous, and necessary thing to do. To pray for someone without actually doing more for them, though, results in nothing but good intentions. “Faith itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Where can you follow up your prayer with some intervention-al action?

Works Prayer

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Homily stories

13 Sep 2015 - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

I hate math. I’ve never been good at it. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my father is a math whiz and loved every minute of helping me with my math homework. I wanted to rush through it; he wanted to deliberate every problem and make sure I really understood it. I know now that he wasn’t trying to torture me, although it felt like it then. He was making sure his children got decent grades (we did) and hoping we would develop his knack for his numbers (we didn’t). Like a million other kids, I protested that I would never need to know algebra. Instead of insisting that I would someday (I haven’t), he told me to think of it as cross-training for my brain. It’ll make you smarter at everything else, he said. Of course, he was right. To this day, phrases such as “show me your work” and “prove it” transport me back to my childhood dining room table, where I had to demonstrate my knowledge. Today’s readings say demonstrate your faith. Even if, especially if, you’re reluctant. It’s going to be hard, but you’ve got to show what you know. Prove it. Take up your cross. Do the work.

Authors Jennifer Tomshack

Works acts

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Homily themes

13 Sep 2015 - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. The Letter of James challenges its audience to “demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works,” with the emphasis on from: The first statement cannot be true, while the second is true. These words could apply as well to Saint Peter, at least at the point of his relationship with Jesus we see in this week’s gospel. He had the faith—“you are the Christ,” he affirms—but he did not yet embrace the “works”: to accept risk and the possibility of suffering that following Jesus involve.

Authors Joel Schorn

Faith Works acts

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Homily stories

06 Sep 2015 - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

My dad and uncle owned a grocery store together. My mom and my uncle’s wife were sisters—two sisters married two brothers. Many years ago, at a family wedding, my Aunt Mary wore an expensive dress my uncle bought her from Marshall Field’s. Mom saved a few dollars to buy her dress from Goldblatt’s, not even remotely a chic store. At the wedding reception, ignoring mom, dad looked across the table and told my aunt how beautiful she looked, causing her to blush and Uncle Dom to beam while my mom sat there red hot with rage. Poor Dad never figured out why Mom wouldn’t dance with him after that comment. You see, my aunt had no children to raise while Mom had four. Mom spent the money on the family rather than an expensive dress. Dad made the mistake of seeing only the externals. This Labor Day weekend Saint James reminds us not to judge others by wealth or by appearances. It is the work we do for others that matters.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

Works Appearances Wealth

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Homily themes

06 Sep 2015 - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. The lectionary selections from the Letter of James drive home the point that Christians should, in the words of last Sunday’s reading, “be doers of the word and not hearers only,” and in the words of next Sunday’s, “faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Those works, James goes on to say, involve acts of charity and virtue: helping the helpless like orphans and widows, respecting the poor, doing corporal works of mercy, living justly and morally. These gospel readings reinforce this message of service and sacrifice, healing, and righteous living, but they also provide some counterpoint. While faith without works may be dead, works without faith are empty gestures, as last Sunday’s gospel story said. The disciples of Jesus need both faith and works, words and deeds.

Faith Works acts

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The inner word

23 Nov 2014 - Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Cycle A

The corporal works of mercy serve as the basis for many a social ministry program, but it’s not easy day in and out to keep the vision alive. The gospel serves to refresh the memory and the energy, but when your energy flags, look around the room for support. No one can carry the load alone. If you’ve been doing so, get some help!

corporal works of mercy

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