Word to the Wise
Friday, May 16, 2008 - Friday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time
[James 2:14-24, 26 and Mark 8:34 - 9:1]What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 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 ot give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
It would take forever to go into the various ways in which the "faith/works" issue has plagued Christian theology over the centuries! If one theological issue can be said to have been at the root of the Protestant Reformation, this would certainly be the one. It was Luther's big issue, and yet it was only an apparent issue caused by corruption in the Catholic church of the time. In recent years, the Catholic Church and Lutheran Church have realized that they are on the same page in this matter. (When I was a student brother [seminarian], I wrote a paper comparing Luther's Commentary on Romans with Cardinal Cajetan's. Tomasso de Vio, O.P., Cardinal Cajetan, was the Vatican delegate who met with Luther! St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, particularly 1:17, was the primary biblical point of argument. After examining both commentaries, I came to the conclusion there was really no disagreement - but lowly student brothers don't get that kind of attention!) What IS the problem? The problem faced in the Reformation is not the one that James is dealing with. He is simply pointing out that a faith that is not expressed in love for one's neighbor is a "dead" faith. That makes sense to us in the light of Christ's command and vividly illustrated in Matthew 25. The problem in the Reformation is that some folks thought that they could "good deed" their way into heaven, without the help of God's grace. That stance was preached by a monk named Pelagius in the 5th century. St. Augustine refuted that position, but the issue has stuck around. It found expression in the corrupt practice of selling indulgences to finance the construction of St. Peter's Basilica! One of my Dominican brethren, John Tetzel, OP, was one of their champion traveling salesmen. Luther had been struggling with the issue and Tetzel's appearance in Wurtemburg was the last straw! I faced this issue in the case of a person who came to see me about spiritual direction and had a stack of devotional cards whose prayers were connected with certain spiritual benefits known as indulgences. The problem facing this person was that they thought they had added up all the benefits and didn't have to worry about going to heaven, but they were having trouble doing them all each day! I tried to convince them it just doesn't work this way, but it was an uphill battle and I don't think I succeeded. Indulgences are a way of encouraging prayer but they are not meant to discourage love-in-action for our neighbor. Anyone who thinks they can love God and ignore their neighbor is a liar, says the First Letter of John! The Letter of James puts it simply and directly. All we have to do is follow the directions! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
86 ms
4
