Sola gratia

Some interesting readings at Mass today. The second reading was from the Letter of James and is one that has occasioned much comment.

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.

The Gospel for the day (Mk 8:27-35, too long to reproduce here) drives this point home. Christ asks His disciples what other people think of Him before inquiring "But who do you say that I am?" Peter demonstrates his faith by saying "You are the Christ." The best known part of the passage has Him later rebuking Peter ("Get behind me, Satan") for "...thinking not as God does but as men do." This, though, is not the crucial part of the passage. Rather, the critical line is Christ's admonition for one who would serve Him to "...deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Belief is not enough; we are called to live the faith we profess.

But what it all comes back to in the end is grace. Faith itself is a gift that we do not, cannot deserve. Not sola fide as some theologians have suggested, but sola gratia. Salvation, by any measure, is not rooted in us but in the benevolence, the grace of a God who love His creation enough to offer that salvation to us. Faith and works are both the products, first and foremost of grace. How great indeed is our God who offers us this gift.

Peace and God bless!

Reflections

So the first class of second year is over. In some ways it was a great way to begin: interesting material, short duration, and for all intents and purposes impossible to fail -- low stress = happy students. Next up, starting tomorrow morning, will be cardiology. The syllabus is enormous, easily several hundred pages long, but this will be one of the most interesting and useful courses we've had so far. It'll be a huge volume of material, so some other things may end up sliding a bit.

On another note, since it's Sunday, I just want to take a moment to consider the reading from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians today. It's probably one of the most uncomfortable readings in Scripture from our modern perspective. I'll be honest, I've never understood it particularly well myself, so I'm probably not the best one the explain it, but something struck me while listening to the reading today, so I figured I'd write it down and see if it made sense.

"Wives, be subordinate to your husbands." The statement offends modern sensibilities. It appears to oppose everything that we're supposed to stand for. It's a statement that few homilists will dare to approach in any detail. However, one Dominican priest of my acquaintance bravely attempted to explain once that the husband's relationship with his wife is to mirror that of Christ with the Church. There was a lot more to it than that, but that was the central point. Until now, I haven't really been able to come up with a sufficient explanation of what that meant.

Today, as I was contemplating the reading, I realized that Christ not only gave His life for His Church, but that He has joined Himself to the Church, that He lives for the Church. It is her life for which He is primarily concerned; He cares more for His Church than for His own life. He sacrificed everything that His bride might live. And it is this that a husband must do in his own life. He is to place his wife before himself in all things, to be her shield and her sounding board, her friend, her shoulder to cry on, and her partner. It is his job to care for her when she can't care for herself. I should probably explain this before getting myself yelled at: a wife's first concern is not for herself either, particularly when she becomes a mother. And when you live for another, you tend to neglect yourself, or have unrealistic expectations of yourself. Often, we can push ourselves too far, and even when someone else points this out, we don't want to hear it. And so, it is the part of the husband to look out for his wife's well-being in all things, even if it means sacrificing himself. Thus, if the husband is doing his job, his wife would be smart to pay attention to what he says. Since she isn't concerned with herself, she should be guided by the one who is concerned for her.

Anyway, I don't know if any of that made any sense. Probably not. Either way, those are my thoughts for the evening. More in the near future.

Peace and God bless!