October 23, 2009
The Second Half
Through the eyes of faith
BY DEACON JIM AND ANN CAVERA
At different times last week we were faced with three separate groups of people struggling with what it means to live by faith. Just like the blind man in this week’s gospel, all three groups consisted of people who were saying, “I want to see.” In Mark’s gospel Jesus told the blind man, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” With those two sentences, we are reminded that all of us are blind and it is only when we are willing to put faith into practice that we begin to see.
The other day someone asked if we knew anything about the “Book of James.” At first we thought he was asking about a recent novel. Then we realized he meant the brief book listed as “The Letter of James” in the New Testament. The only thing either of us could remember was the line often quoted by Catholics, “. . . faith without works is dead.” The NRSV translation is blunt. It says, “Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren?”
We went back and read the five brief chapters that make up the “Letter of James” and found a graphic description of what it means to live with eyes opened by faith. James points out so much that we take for granted and leaves little doubt that no matter what we say, what we do reveals how much we see. In a review of James’ wisdom we are reminded we must be “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” He tells us that if we aren’t careful about what we say, we are deceiving our hearts and our religion is in vain. Pure religion means taking care of orphans and widows. Loving our neighbors as ourselves and knowing the right thing to do and not doing it is sin. James talks about things we easily see as blindness where others are concerned, but seldom recognize as darkness in ourselves.
A woman whose company we avoid was in one of those three groups we met with last week. Illness consumes her life, and we found ourselves making an excuse not to listen to her latest account of chronic misery. In another group were two teenage girls known for their ability to exclude teens who aren’t in their clique. We chose not to say anything to them because we didn’t want to become a target for their unkind remarks. A single mom has expressed an interest in becoming a member of the third group, but we have been “too busy” to take the time to call her.
Everywhere we turned, we kept “bumping into” situations straight from the Letter of James. We refused to take the time to see the misery of the ill woman, or stop the fiery tongues of the girls who cause pain to vulnerable teens. We even refused to find the time to include the single mom who needs the support of a group. No wonder we try to forget the Letter of James. He exposes our blindness and plainly shows that sharp-eyed faith means we must actually take steps to do something about the pain of other people.
Deacon Jim and Ann Cavera are former residents of Evansville; their award-winning column is a regular feature of the Message. Contact them at www.catholicseniorspirit.com.