TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

MASS READINGS

Reading 2 Jas 2:14-18

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, "but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?

So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works."

Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

REFLECTION

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?"

Saint James is not mincing words in here. We can be very prayerful, but as we say in America, we have not only to "talk the talk", but also "walk the walk".

A very interesting thing happens in the USA. We love to give money to charity. Any charity. We put money in a collection basket, mail a check, send an e-deposit, feel good about ourselves, and go on with our lives.

And I ask myself, have I done enough?

Many crises are arising around us. I will not name them all, but the rapid increase of our society's crumbling, both morally and financially, make me wonder if we, if I, am living as a true Christian.

A couple of years ago, Pope Francis called the priests to live the priesthood without losing that "smell of the sheep":

"It is important to maintain contact with the people, with God's faithful people, because there is the anointing of God's people: they are the sheep. By losing the smell of the sheep, by distancing yourself from them, you can be a theorist, a good theologian, a good philosopher, a very good curial official who does all the things" but you will have lost "the ability to smell the sheep". [1]

It is both easy and not so easy to do this. As a parent in today's world we are beyond swamped with activities from work, home, the kids school and after school activities, etc. My vocation as mother is to care for my children and their well being. The balance will be to make sure they see they are not the center of the universe, and there are more people out there besides themselves. I need to teach them not only by words, but also by example.

Getting out of my comfort zone will mean I need to put down my phone and reach out to people around me: Knocking on my neighbors door to bring some treats and just saying hi; meeting my friend for coffee to catch up, and talk about our kids and their struggles, to make sure they don't turn into screenagers; spending time with the refugee family down the road and making sure they have food to eat this week.

It will mean I will have to spend in others one of the most precious commodity there is: time. And time is not something I rightfully own. It is a loan. Will I make dividends with this time? Or will I just keep spending it on myself?

God bless y'all!

 [1] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-10/pope-francis-question-and-answer-seminarians-in-rome.html