Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: James 1:12-18
The Value of Suffering (Continuation)
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[12] Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.
The Source of Temptation
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[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one; [14] but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15] Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.
[16] Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. [17] Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. [18] Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.
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Commentary:
12. These words, which expand on the idea contained in verses 2-4, echo our Lord's own words: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven" (Matthew 5:11-12). The simile of the crown--a mark of victory and kingship--is used to convey the idea of definitive triumph with Christ: the Lord will appear crowned in glory (Revelation 14:14); the Woman of the Apocalypse, symbolizing the Church and the Blessed Virgin, is also described as crowned (cf. Revelation 12:1); and this reward is promised to those who stay true to God in this life (cf. Revelation 2:10; 3:11). It is also to be found in other New Testament passages to convey the idea of the ultimate reward of Heaven (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4).
This means that Christians should not be depressed or cowed by the difficulties which God permits them to experience; on the contrary, they should see them as a series of tests which with God's help they should surmount in order to receive the reward of Heaven. "The Lord does not allow His followers to experience these trials and temptations unless it be for their greater good," St. John of Avila comments. "[...] He disposed things in this way: endurance in adversity and struggle against temptation prove who His friends are. For the mark of a true friend is not that he keeps you company when times are good, but that he stands by you in times of trial [...]. Companions in adversity and later in the Kingdom, you should strive to fight manfully when you meet opposition that would separate you from God, for He is your help here on earth and your reward in Heaven" ("Audi, Filia", 29).
13-18. These verses identify the source of the temptations man experiences: they cannot come from God but are, rather, the effect of human concupiscence (verses 16-18).
Sometimes temptation means putting a person's faithfulness to the test; in this sense it can be said that God "tempts" certain people, as happened in the case of Abraham (cf. Genesis 22:1 ff). However, here the reference is to temptation in the strict sense of incitement to sin: God never tempts anyone in this way, He never encourages a person to do evil (cf. Sirach 15:11-20). Therefore, we cannot attribute to God our inclination to sin, nor can it be argued that by endowing us with freedom He is the cause of our sin. On the contrary, the natural and supernatural gifts we have received are resources which help us act in a morally good way.
14-15. St. James' teaching is that the source of temptation is to be found in our own passions. Elsewhere he says that the world (cf. 1:27; 4:4) and the devil (4:7) are causes of temptations; but to actually commit sin the complicity of one's own evil inclinations is always necessary.
Concupiscence ("desire"), here as elsewhere in the New Testament (cf., e.g., Romans 1:24; 7:7 ff; 1 John 2:16), means all the disordered passions and appetites which, as a result of original sin, have a place in men's hearts. Concupiscence as such is not a sin; but rather, according to the Council of Trent, "since it is left to provide a trial, it has no power to injure those who do not consent and who, by the grace of Jesus Christ, manfully resist"; and if it is sometimes called sin (cf. Romans 6:12 ff) it is "only because it is from sin and inclines to sin" ("De Peccato Originali", 5).
Using the simile of generation St. James describes the course of sin from the stage of temptation to that of the death of the soul. When one gives in to the seduction of concupiscence sin is committed; this in turn leads to spiritual death, to the soul's losing the life of grace. This is the opposite process to the one described earlier (cf. verses 2-12), which begins with trials (temptations in the broad sense: cf. note on 1:2-4) and ends up in Heaven; whereas in this passage, the process also begins with temptation but because of sin ends up with the death of the soul. [Pope] John Paul II describes the process as follows: "Man also knows, through painful experience, that by a conscious and free act of the will he can change course and go in a direction opposed to God's will, separating himself from God ("aversio a Deo"), rejecting loving communion with Him, detaching himself from the life-principle which God is, and consequently choosing "death" ("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 17).
16-18. "The Father of lights": a reference to God as Creator of the heavenly bodies (cf. Genesis 1:14 ff; Psalm 136:7-9) and, in the symbolism of light, as the source of all good things, material and, especially, spiritual. Unlike heavenly bodies, which change position and cast shadows, there is no variation or shadow in God: no evil can be attributed to Him (cf. verse 13), but only good things.
"First fruits of His creatures": Christians, who have been recreated by God by "the word of truth" (the Gospel) already constitute the beginning of the New Heaven and the New Earth (cf. Revelation 21:1) and are a sign of hope for all mankind and for the whole of Creation (cf. Romans 9:19-23).