Putting Faith Into Action

 

September 13, 2009

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is 50:  4c-9a; James 2: 14-18; Mk 8: 27-35

Deacon Larry Brockman

 

Some churches make it sound easy because they talk about how Faith alone saves.  These folks believe that God loves everyone so much, that all they have to do is believe in him and they are saved!  But we believe that being a Christian is tougher than that.  Just consider what we heard today from James:  That “Faith without works is dead”!  That certainly sounds like it takes more than Faith to be a Christian.

In fact, the arguments about faith and works are at the center of theological debates between various Christian denominations about salvation.  We won’t go into the theology of the two sides.  Rather, we will look at the matter in practical ways.   

That last sentence of the second reading says it all in a very practical way:  “Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.”  Indeed, it is easier to see how genuine someone is by what they do, than it is from what they say.   

Now most of us find ourselves immersed in the sea of life, too busy with all the things that life demands to engage in a debate about faith and works.  Like it or not, our lives are filled with works.  We do things for our family; including feeding, educating, chauffeuring and a whole lot more; we do things at our jobs; sometimes for 10 to 12 hours a day; we do things for the government; like pay taxes, participate in civic projects, and voting; and we do things for our health; like working out, jogging, dieting, and more.  Indeed, our lives are full of activities- these are works.  And not a day goes by that we aren’t challenged to do more of them just to get by.  But are these things we do demonstrating our faith?  Or are they a way of life driven by circumstances?  In other words, is our Faith something that we devote to Sunday Mornings, with the rest of our lives being filled with works that just demonstrate that we are caught in the flow dictated by the secular world.   

Now in today’s Gospel, Jesus says:  “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”.  And so, Jesus wants us to demonstrate that we are following him by our actions.  But they are not just any actions.  They are actions that display our faith in what Jesus did and taught.  They are actions that display some dying to self, and picking up some sort of cross.  These crosses don’t have to be some horrible painful ordeal.  God took that on himself.  That’s what the good news of the Gospel is about, that God loved us so much that he sent his only Son to die that horrible death for us to save us all.  Rather, our crosses include bearing with our busy lives with the right understanding.  And that understanding is this:  That no matter how demanding living in secular society is, you have an obligation to make a sacrifice by dying a little bit to yourself, by giving up some of your “time just for me”, and using that time in an effort to make a difference in the world. 

Today we are giving you two golden opportunities to re-evaluate your lives, and find a way to demonstrate your Faith through Christian works. First, we are conducting our yearly Ministry Faire after all the Masses today,  and so all of you can hear about the wonderful work that our many ministries are doing.  You can choose one or more to be involved in.  There are spiritual enrichment programs- Bible Studies, Emmaus Retreats, Devotion Groups, Prayer Groups, Perpetual Adoration, and more.  There are social service organizations, like the Men’s Club, KOC, the Ladies Association, St. Vincent de Paul, and others.  There are ways for you to participate more actively in our liturgies- by becoming an EMHC, a Reader, an Altar server, a member of the Music Ministry, or an Usher; ways to support our Sacramental Preparation programs through Prep, BHF, the Baptism Ministry, and RCIA; ways to help support our Youth and Young Adult Groups;  ways to get involved with the Right to Life by joining Respect Life; and ways to help the poor and sick through our Hospital Ministry, St Martin de Pours, Bereavement, and others.  Indeed, the Parish has a great many ways for all of you to perform Christian Works- something for everybody; a way to use your talents, whatever they may be.  I hope you will all consider a way to get involved.   

The second opportunity you have today is to participate in the Spiritual Adoption Program the Parish is launching today.  This program is a way of “making a difference” collectively as a whole parish.  So, what is Spiritual Adoption?  Picture a young woman who just discovered that she is 7 weeks pregnant.  For one reason or another- pressure from society or the father, her own goals in life, or her social status- she is considering an abortion.  We don’t know her name- but we know she is out there.  Why, because since Roe vs Wade, the number of abortions has increased to 1.4 million year.  That means there are 4,000 women in the USA who not only are considering an abortion this very day, but who will actually abort their child today.  4000 just today!  We are asking you to adopt today one of the children whose Mom is thinking of aborting them. 

Did you know, for example, that the 7 week old little one you adopt today, has a heart that has been beating for a month, and that he or she can already flex their toes and suck on their thumb.  But this little one is totally dependent on the Mom.  So we are asking you to help the Mom.  We know that prayer can and does make a difference.  Please pray for both the Mom and the Child over the next 8 months. we are confident that if the parish prays for them,  God will hear our prayers and save some of them by moving their Mom’s and Families to reconsider. 

By the way, we will keep you informed over the next 8 months how your child is developing using the banners posted out in the parking lot and notices in the bulletin. 

Look now at the end of each pew.  There are “pledge cards” for you to fill out.  Take one for your adopted child- you, your spouse, and each of your children can each participate, or you can adopt a child as a family project.  Fill in a name for your child.  Tear off the larger portion, the prayer card, and keep it.  We ask you to pray this ten second prayer each day over the next 8 months.  Then take the rest of the signup card forward to the altar and place it in the basket there.  If you need more time to think it over, or you want to discuss it as a family, you can bring the cards back later and put them in the basket next Sunday at the Respect Life Table in the Narthex.  After that, the basket will be in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel for the next 8 months.  At the end of the nine month period, we will ask each person who adopted a child to bring a “baby shower” gift on Mothers Day to the Church.  We will collect the gifts and get them to the JMJ Pregnancy Crisis Center.  These gifts are a tangible way for us to help mothers who have decided in favor of the beautiful gift of life.  We will wait a few moments now for you to bring the cards forward.     

As you make an effort today to die a little to your self, consider this.  Today we heard one of the most beautiful readings in the Old Testament.  The reading tells us that no matter how much we suffer, when we do God’s will, we will prevail.  Why?  Because “The Lord God is my help, who will prove me wrong”. 

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