21 February, 2020. Friday of Week 6

St. Peter Damian, bishop and doctor of the Church (Opt. Memorial)

1st Reading: James 2:14-24, 26

Faith without works is like a body without breath

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

Responsorial: Psalm 111:1-6

Response: Happy are those who do what the Lord commands

Happy are they who fear the Lord,
who take delight in his commands.
Their sons will be powerful on earth;
the children of the upright are blessed.
Riches and wealth are in their house;
their justice stands firm for ever.
They are a light in the darkness for the upright:
they are generous, merciful and just.
The good person takes pity and lends,
they behave themselves with honour.
The just person will never waver:
he will be remembered for ever.

Gospel: Mark 8:34-9:1

Losing one’s life in order to save it

Jesus called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

May your words, O Lord be on my lips and in my heart. May they guide me on life’s journey and keep me near to you.

Show me your faith apart from your works

The gospel contrasts two tendencies that often struggle within us for the upper hand. One is accepting our situation patiently, as part of the cross of Christ. The other is to put the search for personal aggrandizement above everything else. Jesus set before us a vital paradox. Too much self-assertion leads to self destruction. “Whoever seeks to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
St James illustrates the value of good works for salvation by citing two examples from the the Hebrew Scriptures. First, he pictures the anguish of Abraham, who was willing to kill his darling son Isaac, imagining that he was obliged to worship God in that savage way of the Canaanites. Second (in the few verses omitted today), he lists the shrewd option made by Rahab the prostitute, who though misguided in her lifestyle, welcomed the invading Israelites as the wave of the future.
God sees a brighter future and a truer holiness in people whose hearts are sincere and honest than in those who put on a fine display while failing to really do what is needed. The rich man (or politician?) can always express sympathy for his needy neighbours, while doing nothing to meet their actual needs. “What good is that?” James asks, trenchantly.
If we set aside all pious camouflage and reach out a helping hand to our neighbour in need, we are carrying the cross in the way that matters. To stand by someone in need is to follow the way of Jesus the friend of sinners and outsiders. It’s what he means by losing one’s life in order to save it; and in so doing we will get a glimpse of the true “kingdom of God.”