HOMILY WEEK 16 05 – Year I
Feast of St. James:
Life of Christ Within – Loving Service Without
(2 Cor 4:7-15; Ps 126; Mt 20:20-28)
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“We make living by what we get; we make a life by what we give away.”
Those words by Sir Winston Churchill accompany the message of the readings today on this feast of St. James: Faith in Christ must be expressed through loving service.
St. Paul, in the first reading to the Corinthians, provides us with a powerful image: we are earthen vessels, yet called to be instruments of God’s grace in the world. He asks us to make visible in the world, the life of Christ that we carry within us.
As clay vessels, we are like lamps made of pottery – very imperfect, yet also very special, simply because of the life of Christ, the extraordinary power of God that we carry within us.
When St. Paul says that we carry in our bodies the death of Christ, he means that we have experienced the Paschal Mystery – we have faced our sin, died to it through forgiveness, and dealt with our sinfulness, experienced healing of our negative attitudes, and risen to a new life in Christ.
Jesus gives us his strength to say “no,” as he did, to the false gods of possessions, prestige and power when tempted by Satan in the desert. Imagine Satan taunting Jesus, “How can you be the Son of God when you are so poor?” Jesus, so secure in the Father’s love for him, would respond that he did not need to be rich to be the Son of God. Next, Satan taunted Jesus again, “How can you be the Son of God when you are a big fat nobody? You’re not famous at all!” And Jesus, so secure in the Father’s love for him, would reply that he did not have to be famous to be the Son of God. Finally, Satan tempted Jesus, “How can you be the Son of God if you have no power at all?” And Jesus, so secure in the Father’s love, would reply that he did not need to have power or control to be the Son of God.
That is what an intimate relationship of faith and prayer can give us – the strength to say “no” to those temptations, the greatest of which is power and control. There is all too much obsession with that in our society, workplaces, communities and even in the Church. Faith and prayer lets us know that we are precious and honored in God’s sight, not because of anything we have done, but simply because God loves us, accepts us as we are, and believes in whom we can become. So faith and prayer fills our earthen lamp with the oil of the Spirit and of love.
However, a lamp does not fulfill its purpose until it is lit and its light shines forth for all to see. Forgiven and healed, we are now to express our faith, to let our light shine, through selfless, loving service. As St. Paul puts it, we are carrying in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible through us. We have to give our lives away – our time, treasure and talent – making the world a better place and building up the reign of God right here and right now.
St. James, whose feast we celebrate today, is a prime example for us. Certainly, he was a clay vessel – impetuous, ready to call down fire and brimstone on the Samaritans, ambitious and greedy, wanting power and control. However, his relationship with Jesus transformed him. The teaching Jesus shared with the apostles about serving rather than being served, about letting go of power and control, that Jesus himself came to serve and not to be served, that following him was about humble service and not power and glory, transformed James into the first leader of the Jerusalem Church, and an early martyr, beheaded by King Herod.
That teaching of Jesus to the apostles was very much like the pep talks that Pope Francis gives at times to the curia in Rome, and to bishops and priests around the world – that leadership is not about power and careerism, but about being a good shepherd, close to the sheep, taking on the smell of the sheep, caring for the sheep.
Fr. Richard Rohr, founder of the Centre for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico, understood this dynamic. Contemplation, faith in God, having God’s love and life within us, must be balanced with action, ministry, loving service.
The volunteers at the annual Lac St Anne pilgrimage at this time are an example of faith translated into action, into humble, loving service, helping all the pilgrims have a faith experience that in turn will help us all return to serve our communities with greater love.
The Eucharist combines both prayer and action. It is first of all a profound act of faith – we listen to God’s Word, and believe that humble gifts of bread and wine will be transformed by the power of the Spirit into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We are then transformed into the Body of Christ, and mandated, sent out, to live the Eucharist by washing the feet of our brothers and sisters in need, through humble, loving service.
So remember, Jesus came to serve, not to be serve, and we make a life by what we give away. Let us strive to the express the life of Christ within us by loving service to our brothers and sisters.
