Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: James 1:1-11
Address and Greetings
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[1] James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greeting.
The Value of Suffering
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[2] Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, [3] for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
[5] If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. [6] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. [7,8] For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.
[9] Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, [10] and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. [11] For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers with the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
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Commentary:
1. The author of the letter is St. James, who was in charge of the Christian community of Jerusalem for a number of years (cf. Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:19), a close relative of our Lord....
James introduces himself as a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ". The title of "servant of God" was given to people in the Old Testament who were outstandingly faithful to the Lord (cf. Psalm 34:22), such as Moses, David, the prophets; the title applies in a special way to the Messiah, the "Servant of Yahweh" (cf. Isaiah 42-53). In the New Testament it is applied to all Christians, particularly the Apostles (cf. Acts 4:29; 16-17; Revelation 1:1). At the start of their letters, St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Jude sometimes describe themselves in this way to make the point that they are mere messengers of divine truth.
The term "Lord"--'Kyrios' in Greek--which is applied to Jesus Christ is used in the second-century B.C. Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament to translate the name of Yahweh. St. Paul also uses it frequently. It is an explicit profession of faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ, part of the Christian creed from the very beginning.
The letter is addressed "to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion" or Diaspora. The term "diaspora" originally meant Jews domiciled outside Palestine. Here it refers to Christians--the twelve tribes of the new, true Israel--who were to be found all over the Greco-Roman world. It is very likely that it refers particularly to Jewish converts to Christianity.
The salutation used by James--which the New Vulgate translates as "health" and the RSV gives as "greeting"--literally means "rejoice". It was the customary form of greeting in the Greek of the time. The same word is used in verse 2, perhaps to make it quite clear what kind of joy he means.
2-12. In these opening verses, St. James points out how Christians should behave in the face of trials and sufferings: they should accept them with joy (verses 2-4); if they find it difficult to see why they are experiencing difficulties, they should ask God to give them the necessary wisdom (verses 5-8); the poor and well-to-do should have the same attitude to things (verses 9-11); finally, he reminds them that the reward God promises to those who endure trials is blessedness (verse 12). The whole passage clearly reflects the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matthew 5:1-12).
The problem of the suffering experienced by the righteous in contrast with the prosperity of the impious in this life is one often dealt with in the Old Testament, particularly in the Psalms and in the Book of Job. But it was not fully and finally solved until the coming of Jesus Christ, who by His teaching and His life revealed the redemptive value of suffering, and the great reward which Heaven holds. "It is through Christ and in Christ that light is thrown on the riddle of suffering and death which, apart from His Gospel, overwhelms us" (Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 22).
Human suffering has a redemptive value when borne in union with Christ: "The Gospel of suffering", Pope John Paul II says, "is being written unceasingly, and it speaks unceasingly with the words of this strange paradox: the springs of divine power gush forth precisely in the midst of human weakness. Those who share in the sufferings of Christ preserve in their own sufferings a very special "particle of the infinite treasure" of the world's Redemption, and can share this treasure with others" ("Salvifici Doloris", 27).
2-4. The "trials" referred to hear do not seem to be persecutions, but rather everyday adversity--perhaps poverty especially (cf. 1:9; 2:5-7)--which tests the Christian's faith: for this reason the word is sometimes translated as "temptations". These trials act as a test of perseverance in the pursuit of good and help the soul to grow in patience, a much needed virtue: "There is nothing more pleasing to God", St. Alphonsus comments, "than to see a soul who patiently and serenely bears whatever crosses it is sent; this is how love is made, by putting lover and loved one on the same level [...]. A soul who loves Jesus Christ desires to be treated the way Christ was treated--desires to be poor, despised and humiliated ("The Love of Jesus Christ", Chapter 5).
Patience, steadfastness, is quite different from mere passive endurance of suffering; it comes from the virtue of fortitude and leads one to accept suffering as something sent by God. It is grounded on hope (cf. Thessalonians 1:3) and on faith put to the test (James 1:3); it is very fruitful (cf. Luke 8:15), particularly in terms of Christian joy (cf. Acts 5:41), and implies sustained effort to the point of perfection.
5-8. The wisdom St. James refers to views everything in the light of Christ crucified--the wisdom of the cross in the phrase of St. Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18 ff), which is the only type of insight that enables one to be joyful in the midst of adversity and suffering, because it allows one to see these things as an opportunity to share in our Lord's suffering. When we find it difficult to view things in this light, we need to ask God to give us wisdom.
Our prayer for wisdom should be a prayer full of faith: "Whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith" (Matthew 21:22). The "St. Pius V Catechism" reminds us that "believe, we must, both in order to pray, and that we be not wanting in that faith which renders prayer fruitful. For it is faith that leads to prayer, and it is prayer that, by removing all doubts, gives strength and firmness to faith. This is the meaning of the exhortation of St. Ignatius to those who approach God in prayer: `Be not of doubtful mind in prayer; blessed is he who had not doubted' ("Ep. X Ad Heronem"). Therefore, to obtain from God what we ask, faith and an assured confidence are of first importance, according to the admonition of St. James: "Let him ask in faith, with no doubting" (James 1:6)" (IV, 7, 3).
5. "Who gives to all men generously and without reproaching": God always listens to our requests, and He answers them without humiliating us, without reminding us of our unworthiness. This should help us address the Lord with complete confidence, not being inhibited by our shortcomings and sins. "You are so conscious of your misery", St J. Escriva says, that you acknowledge yourself unworthy to be heard by God. But, what about the merits of Mary? And the wounds of your Lord? And...are you not a son of God? Besides, He listens to you '"quoniam bonus..., quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus"': because He is good, because His mercy endure forever'" ("The Way", 93).
7-8. "A double-minded man": an indecisive soul who is unsure whether to trust in the efficacy of prayer or not. St. Bede comments: "A double-minded person is one who kneels down to ask God for things and beseeches Him to grant them, and yet feels so accused by his conscience that he distrusts his ability to pray. A double-minded person is also one who, when he does good deeds, looks for external approval rather than interior reward. The wise man is right when he says, `Woe to the sinner who walks along two ways!" (Sirach 2:12) [...]. People of this type are inconstant in all their ways, for they are very easily overpowered by adverse circumstance and entrapped by favorable ones, with the result that they stray from the true path" ("Super Iac. Expositio, ad loc.").
9-11. Apparently poverty was one of the hardest trials these Christians were experiencing. The Semitic mind was fond of expressing itself in terms of contrasts, and this may make it difficult for us to grasp the full thrust of St. James' maxims: to do so we need to draw on our general knowledge of Christian doctrine. God and the Church have a predilection for the poor, and Christ describes the poor as blessed (cf. Matthew 5:3 and paragraph): this teaching applies in the first instance to those who experience material need, but material need is a symbol of the truly poor, that is, those who, independently of whether they have many or few material possessions, realize that they are in dire need of God (cf. note on Luke 6:24). In principle, it may be easier for a materially poor person to feel in need of God, whereas someone who is well off needs to be detached from possessions in order to trust fully in God.
The sacred writer does not require people who have possessions to give them up: what they have to do is to realize that material possessions are transitory, impermanent things to be used in the service of others and of society, and not just for oneself.
The Leaven of the Pharisees
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[11] The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him (Jesus), seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, to test Him. [12] And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." [13] And He left them, and getting into the boat again He departed to the other side.
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Commentary:
11-12. Jesus expresses the deep sadness He feels at the hardheartedness of the Pharisees: they remain blind and unbelieving despite the light shining around them and the wonderful things Christ is doing. If someone rejects the miracles God has offered him, it is useless for him to demand new signs, because he asks for them not because he is sincerely seeking the truth but out of ill will: he is trying to tempt God (cf. Luke 16:27-31). Requiring new miracles before one will believe, not accepting those already performed in the history of salvation, amounts to asking God to account for Himself before a human tribunal (cf. Romans 2:1-11). Unfortunately, many people do act like this. But God can only be found if we have an open and humble attitude to Him. "I have no need of miracles: there are more than enough for me in the Gospel. But I do need to see you fulfilling your duty and responding to grace" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 362).
12. The generation to which Jesus refers does not include all the people of His time, but only the Pharisees and their followers (cf. Mark 8:38; 9:19; Matthew 11:16), who do not want to see in Jesus' miracles the sign and guarantee of His messianic mission and dignity: they even attribute His miracles to Satan (Matthew 12:28).
If they do not accept the signs offered to them, they will be given no other sign of the spectacular kind they seek, for the Kingdom of God does not come noisily (Luke 17:20-21) and even if it did they in their twisted way would manage to misinterpret the event (Luke 16:31). According to Matthew 12:38-42 and Luke 11:29-32, they are offered yet another sign--the miracle of Jonah, the sign of the death and resurrection of Christ; but not even this remarkable proof will lead the Pharisees to shed their pride.
Source: Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary