Before I entered the seminary I was a bank teller for about 2 years. I had a co-worker named Nancy who was one of the sweetest persons I have ever met. One day we were talking and she asked me “Do you go to church?” I answered “Of course I go to Church, Nancy.” Then I thought to myself, how could she not know that? Do I not act in a way that she could tell I was a church-going person?
This is what James is talking about in our second reading today: Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. If we do not live our lives as Christian people, our faith and our worship here is practically meaningless. Are we just going through the motions, or are we here to be fed and empowered by the grace of God and the Sacrament of the Eucharist so that we may go into the world and live a life as Christian people?
One of my seminary professors who was teaching us Ancient philosophy made a comment to our class when we asked what the point of learning Aristotle was. We of course thought it was useless and a waste of time. But he said to us: Use your philosophy always, just don’t mention it. It wasn’t until several years later that I fully understood what he meant. However, that statement (with a slight modification) can be made about our faith life as well. Use your faith always, just don’t mention it every time. We must allow our relationship with God, our life of faith, to inform every aspect of our lives. We should be living in a way, filled with Holy Joy and the Peace of God, that others we encounter are intrigued and think “there’s something different about him/her.”
Now that of course isn’t for our own vain glory, but rather, so that we may become Christ’s witnesses to a broken and hurting world that is so desiring of Joy and Peace.
This requires within us a conversion of heart. Conversion is a lifelong process and we can never stop growing closer to God until we are completely united with Him in heaven. Now conversion can be difficult, it can be scary, it can be painful. We can encounter a lot of roadblocks along the way. This can come from our own personal struggles with change, but it can also stem from others around us who discourage us at times. When my sister and I were in high school, my mom went through a period of deeper conversion and really started to live her life of faith in a more open and dynamic way. My sister and I were both sort of embarrassed by her and we would constantly mock her and her new found devotion. We were like Peter in today’s Gospel. Jesus is living out the mission He was sent for and Peter, motivated by fear was trying to discourage Him. Jesus’ response is really quite strong: Get behind me Satan!
While I don’t advise you use those same words with folks who may discourage you, I do encourage you to consider them in your heart. Don’t allow fear of embarrassment to stop you from serving as a witness to your faith. Live your faith in a visible way. Preach always, sometimes use words. We must let the Joy and the Peace that we gain from our life of faith, radiate into all aspects of our lives, this is the ‘works’ that James speaks of.
If we use/live our faith always, we shouldn’t have to mention it. Let your actions proclaim to the world that you are a friend and follower of Christ.
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