24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B September 5, 2021
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Can faith save us? By itself? No. The second reading ends before we get to it, but in the very next line, St. James says, “even the demons believe and tremble.” They know God is real, but it doesn’t save them. Peter has faith to acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah, but immediately gets called “Satan” by Jesus. Why? Because he tries to reject the work that Jesus must do, the work of carrying the cross. Faith, in order to save us, must be lived in works. This is the next lesson in our journey through the letter of St. James.
Put another way, to go to heaven requires us to have integrity. Knowing the right thing means nothing if you do not also do the right thing. It is not enough to believe in Jesus and just avoid hurting people. We must also be disciples who live as he lived. Far too many people think of heaven as if it’s owed to us, as if the default is going to heaven and only those people who do something terrible get it taken away. Heaven is a gift, but it is one that must be actively embraced. Jesus even sometimes speaks of it as a reward.
How do we earn this reward? How do we accept this gift of escaping the default of destruction? Through faith animated by charity, by love. How, then, do we put faith into action? Two ways. Not surprisingly, they line up with the two-fold greatest commandment: Love of God and Love of Neighbor. More specifically, the readings today point us to carrying the cross and to love of the poor.
St. James’ own example is to compare faith without works to wishing someone well while still leaving them hungry and naked. The power of this comparison is that charity is not just a nice thing to do. It is not extra. It is literally what stands between us and going to hell. The reason that helping other people often feels good is because it is in those moments that we are being what we were made to be. This world, our lives exist for the purpose of loving others. So, when we do something out of love we can sometimes feel that connection, that resonance with the reason for our existence.
This is why the Catholic Church is the largest charity organization in the world. It’s why we feed, clothe, house, and treat more people than any other single organization. It’s also why we have a long history of tough teachings on charity. St. Ambrose tells us that when you give to someone in need, “you are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. For what has been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated to yourself. The world is given to all, and not only to the rich.” Yes, private property is a right, but it is a limited right. It exists for the sake of human dignity and where there is greater need, that right ceases to exist. God gives us possessions so that we have the chance to use them for the good of others, not because he owes us something.
True charity does not start with giving away your extra. Giving away the extra is justice, it’s what we ought to do at the bare minimum. True charity – the love that goes above and beyond – the love that shows genuine faith… that starts when we sacrifice to do so, when we give in a way that hurts. This is why the other half of the greatest commandment is so important: the love of God. Specifically, this is why the cross is the symbol of love, of faith in action.
Peter was rebuked for missing this. While there are many good things in this world – things we should be grateful for – those good things are not the goal of life. Love is the goal. And, in a fallen world, love often looks like suffering. Jesus tells us outright, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Remember that, when he said this, the cross was just a symbol of horrible torture and death. It’d be like telling people to put their neck in a noose or to sit on an electric chair.
I honestly don’t enjoy preaching in this way, because it challenges me too. I am often quite comfortable and well off! It is too easy for me to wake up in the morning looking forward to whatever entertainment or food or excitement there will be that day… all that instead of waking each morning looking forward to self-denial, to the cross, to acts of charity and service that I might enjoy doing – or might not – yet still want to do… because that’s what a day… that’s what life is for: love.
Don’t get me wrong, recreation and rest and food are all good and necessary things. We should enjoy them with gratitude, but they should not be the reason for every day, they should not be the goal of life. Even these good things are about restoring ourselves for the sake of being better able to serve and to sacrifice. It’s not wrong to be successful in business, to make good money. But why do we make money? For bragging rights? For the sake of the latest, greatest toy or entertainment? Or to be better able to serve family, friends, and especially the poor?
There are many saints in our history who were rich. There are kings and queens, entrepreneurs and investors, and those who simply inherited it. But in every case, those saints were known for how freely they gave that wealth away and how simply they strove to live even when they had the option to live better. Resist the temptation to hear what I’m saying and start applying it to other people, whose hearts you don’t know. Hear this and challenge yourselves.
It is hard, because we desire happiness. That is what we were ultimately made for. But, all this talk of the cross and giving everything away is not about masochism, it is the way to authentic happiness. In a fallen world, it takes faith to see that going through the cross and going through voluntary poverty is the only way to get to the resurrection and to genuine wealth. Even in the natural world, it is the paradox that we have to sacrifice in order to flourish, that we have to choose to suffer now if we want to avoid the worse suffering later. As Jesus puts it, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”
Have faith that Jesus Christ, who did it first, will lead us through the cross to the resurrection. Then put that faith into action, make it real and alive by choosing now to help those in need, especially when it hurts to do so. Lose your life in that kind of love, and it will be saved.