Friday of the Sixth
Week in Ordinary Time
(James 2:14-24.26; Mark 8:34-9:1)
Most people today would say that great non-Christian humanists like
Socrates and Maimonides have a place in eternal life. Yet a century ago Christians would
have despaired of their salvation because they were never baptized. Of course, who’s in and who’s out of heaven
is up to God, but ever since Vatican II Catholics are eager to give people such
as these the benefit of the doubt. The
first reading today may be employed for argumentation.
Of course, James is not making a case for salvation of
non-Christians. He is merely saying that
a professed faith alone is not enough to gain eternal life. One must animate that faith by works of
charity. James is actually refuting
radical interpretations of St. Paul’s doctrine of justification. But even Paul would admit that belief without
love is as sterile as reading a book in an unknown language. Today the opposite claim is made: that good
works are all that is required for salvation.
How does this come about? Works
of charity imply faith in God who commands love of neighbor.
We should not presume salvation because one performs
random acts of kindness just as we cannot exclude it because another lacks a
profession of faith. We are wise to look
for coherency and consistency. When one
practices charity regularly, he or she likely does so from a system of values
that approximates faith in Jesus.
