The Promised Life

The discussion about faith and works is presented by James in the passage from his second letter from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today. The surrender of our fear and concern to God is faith. We trust in His will for our lives. We are invited to live intimately with God through the Holy Spirit. Can it be more than this? What work can I do to earn this? The answers are yes there is more and no it is gift and it is undeserved, unmerited and we cannot work to achieve it. The more is living as Christ. This brings us compassion, patience, mercy and forgiveness. The action and work which follows from our holy gifts is the righteousness which makes our lives a witness to Love. Works are the consequence and fulfillment of faith. The Life in the Way will invite us to abandon the practices which cause us to turn away from the direction prompted by the Spirit. When we serve ourselves we show distance from the Divine to the world. Mark, in the Gospel passage, sees those in his time who are presenting an attitude of being ashamed of Jesus Way through adulterous and sinful actions. We are cautioned about our loss of intimacy with God, the fruit of faith, and our possible return to fear in the dark