Sunday Reflections

The second reading from the Letter of James raises the question of the relationship between faith and good works.  James maintains that our faith should be manifested or embodied in a certain way of living.  This second reading today suggests that faith will be obvious in the concrete ways of serving the poor, where they are given “the necessities of the body.”  This way of thinking is captured in the old hymn, “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love; yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” 

Both the Resurrectionist Charism and Mission statements accentuate that God has loved us first, with an unconditional love.  In particular, the Charism statement reminds us, that “we have not earned his love.”  There are no good works, no matter how holy, no matter how wonderful, that can ever earn God’s love.  That is because, of course, it is a free gift, given unconditionally and lavishly to us.  We are graced to respond to this love through conversion—to unite ourselves with Christ, to a new life filled with the power of his Spirit. 

The gospel today provides a particular way that we might unite ourselves to Christ; it is to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and follow him. This means that, conformed to Christ, we die to the “old self” of sin and selfishness, and embrace the new life of the Spirit: peace, gentleness, patience, kindness, etc.  In doing so, we will respond to the unconditional love that God offers us and we will embody our faith in good works as the Letter of James urges.