Only Faith Working Through Love

October 14, 2008

Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. Galatians 5:1, 6

The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you. Luke 11:39-41

Piety

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine; so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus will be all from you. None of it will be ours; it will be you shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way that you love best by shining on those around us. Let us preach you with preaching: not by words but by our example, by the catching force, by sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you. Amen.
(Prayer by Cardinal John Henry Newman.)

Study

For Jesus, only faith working through love counts for anything. Nothing else matters. Active love. Faith in the pews won’t cut it unless we “go forth to love and serve the Lord.” Good work, done for the wrong motivation, also is not enough.

Jesus mocks the Pharisees for washing the outside of the bowl while forgetting to cleanse an inside filled with thoughts of sin. Last week, St. Paul mocked the Galatians (Oh, you stupid Galatians!) for the same behavior.

At Monday’s workshop on Centering Prayer, Deacon Jim Bayne and his wife Diane said that salvation is not earned by racking up points and indulgences – the modern day equivalent of washing the outside of the cup. Salvation is earned by building a relationship with Jesus.

The workshop was held on the beautiful grounds of the Benedictine Monastery in Bristow, VA under the watchful gaze of portraits of Benedict and Scholastica. From Benedict, we learn that the formula for building this relationship with Jesus and our neighbors is a life filled with both prayer and work. Faith and action. We need to cultivate both parts of this to have a mature relationship with God and each other.

St. Paul stresses that freedom is the result of Christ’s work for us. No longer would the followers of Christ have to adhere to a long list of laws prescribed to control their behavior. This freedom allows us to concentrate on serving one another. The concept of freedom to serve is so important that is was repeated in the scriptures chosen for both yesterday and today.

Action

With three weeks remaining before Election Day, take a minute and review the recent statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called Faithful Citizenship and the other resources on this election posted at http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/.

Encourage others to adhere to the Political Responsibility Guidelines in order to keep the Church from being used for or against any candidate.