How do we
distinguish the Law of God from mere human precepts? How do we know when we are
being good Christians or not? It really
is not that difficult. We only have to
look into our hearts. Am I putting God
first? Am I serving Him in others? Am I reverencing Him in every aspect of my
life? That's all that matters. From this all the rest flows. Jesus said that the sum total of all the law
was loving God with our whole hearts, our whole souls and our whole minds and
loving our neighbor as ourselves. That's
simple enough[1].
Simple is what we need in our daily practice of the
faith. But where do we find this simplicity?
There are two sentences in the Bible that answer this question for me,
perhaps also for you. The first comes
from today's second reading, the Letter of James. James writes, Religion that is pure and undefiled before
God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and
to keep oneself unstained by the world. The word that James uses for religion is the Greek word threskia. Threskia means "worshiping". What James is saying is that worshiping God
means reaching out to those who need our help, caring for orphans and widows,
and living for his Kingdom, keeping ourselves unstained by the world. James is really not limiting his thought to
the young lady and children up the block whose husband and father died
suddenly. He is speaking about all who
need our love and support. We are worshiping
God when we reach out to His Presence in those in need. Whatever you do for the least of my brethren you do for me.
The second sentence that simplifies how we are to live
our faith comes from the Old Testament prophet Micah. Micah proclaims: What does the LORD require of you? He has told you, ‘Do what is just,
love what is kind, and walk humbly with your God.’
I am convinced that if we were to have a few words
with one of the apostles in heaven and we were to ask him, “What was Jesus
really like when you followed Him on earth?” the apostle would respond, “He was
the kindest man to ever live. And then He called us to follow Him, to be like
Him, to be kind.”
“And walk humbly with your God.” We need to be aware
that God has showered His Love on each of us not because we did this or that
but because He sees in each of us a unique reflection of His own goodness, His
Image and Likeness. We walk humbly with
our God because we are well aware that He has been so good to each of us.
Religion is not difficult. All that is required of us is for us to take
a close look at our interior attitudes and, then, let our external actions be a
reflection of whom we are, followers of Jesus Christ •
[1] 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B), August 30, 2015.
Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; Responsorial Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5; James
1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.
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