Friday, May 24, 2024

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(James 5:9-12; Mark 10:1-12)

Martin Luther called the Letter of James an “epistle of straw.”  More recent critics of the letter do not find many direct references to Jesus in it.  Indeed, the letter mentions Jesus by name only twice.  However, there are many parallels between its contents and statements of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel.

In today’s passage James tells his readers not to complain so that they will not be judged.  In Matthew Jesus says to his disciples: “Do not be judged that you may not be judged.” Likewise, Jesus tells his disciples: “Do not swear at all, neither by heaven … nor by earth … Let you word be, ‘Yes, yes,’ ‘No, no.’” James is very similar here: “… do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath,
but let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’"

Part of Jesus’ salvation is his legacy of prophetic teaching.  James continues this endeavor and even surpasses Jesus’ call to social justice in some respects.  For both, treating one’s neighbor justly is a required response to God’s offer of forgiveness. 

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 15:1-12.17-18; Matthew 7:15-20)

In his Letter to the Romans St. Paul looks to the passage of Genesis that we read today for an example of righteousness. He comments, “…it was through the righteousness that comes from faith” that Abraham received the blessings that God promises. Martin Luther eventually strips faith of any element of service as he argues that a human being needs only a firm declaration of belief to be saved. Critics of the Reformation point out that Paul obviously has a more wholesome concept of faith as he writes to the Galatians that what counts is “faith working through love.”

We might appreciate Luther more if we step back and see the pitfalls of those who stress works of charity over the necessity of faith. Too soon they lose the perspective that salvation is a gift from God and see it more as an earned reward if not an entitlement of birth. Abraham keeps a healthy balance which we will see as his story unfolds in the coming days. He gives due honor to God, his sovereign Lord, but he fulfills whatever he deems God expects of him, at least at his best moments.

Our faith turns around Jesus, God’s son, who gives his life on the cross so that we might receive his Holy Spirit. This Spirit enables us to fulfill Jesus’ commands which slackers would avoid. It moves us from the television and the dining table to visit the sick and encourage the depressed.

Homilette for Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Mt 5:43-48)

Jesus’ command in the gospel, “’...be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect’” distresses many Christians. They worry that they will have to conduct a neurotic, illusive program to change their lives. Better, they may think, to remain simul iustus et peccator, Martin Luther’s expression to describe the Christian as justified while remaining sinful. “God loves us as we are,” they may say to excuse their unwillingness to change.

We like to think of Jesus as accommodating of our sins and foibles. The gospel stories of Jesus’ eating with prostitutes and tax collectors reassure that he will accept us with our less grievous faults. And surely he does! He does not spurn us because of weakness for pornography, displays of bad temper, or the like. But at the same time he calls us to change our sinful ways. At Baptism or in the Sacrament of Reconciliation he even provides us the power to reform.

Yet we should not be surprised if our transformation is gradual. Human nature, after all, is notoriously habitual. Yet with constant, determined effort we can overcome the meanest of tendencies. In this season when Olympic athletes are closing in on perfection, we might consider ourselves in similar training. In our case, of course, we seek mastery of behavior which wins the prize of a permanent place in the Father’s kingdom.