Word to the Wise
Monday, February 16, 2026 - Monday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jas 1:1-11 and Mark 8:11-13]Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. [James]
Today and tomorrow, i.e. until Ash Wednesday, the first scripture for Mass is from the Letter of James. The original audience would have been Jewish-Christian and the form of the document is typical of the kind of exhortation we find in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. Moral conversion and perseverance in faith is the primary subject.
Perseverance in the face of trials is a major concern in all the New Testament. Christianity faced persecution in the Roman Empire at least until the emperor Constantine granted legal protection in the 4th century! In some parts of the world today Christians continue to suffer persecution for the faith, even from governments headed by other Christians! Fear of persecution can wear down a person or group of persons. It just seems "easier" to "go with the flow." Others have given incredible example for hundreds of years of underground practice of the faith - e.g. Japanese Christians when Japan was closed to the outside world from the 1500's to the 1800's and the "underground church" during the Cold War inside the iron curtain of communist governments in eastern Europe.
On a more local level, in my years in campus ministry, I have seen how a secular, even anti-religious, environment can wear down the faith of a student. Discouragement is ever an enemy of faith, especially when so many "options" seem more attractive. Perseverance is a challenge that many find very difficult, especially because it is a daily challenge. The Letter of James, for these two days before Lent begins, can serve as a preparation for that special period of preparation for Holy Week. AMEN