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Here is a reflection on today's readings -- suffering is addressed, and I thought all might enjoy it.

6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: James 1:1-11

Address and Greetings

[1] James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve
tribes in the Dispersion: Greeting.

The Value of Suffering

[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.

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",
Monsignor 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.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Another reflection on suffering from "One Bread, One Body."

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 20, Number 2

<< Monday, February 16, 2004 >>

James 1:1-11

Psalm 119:67-68, 71-72, 75-76

Mark 8:11-13

View Readings

LIVING THE MIRACULOUS LIFE

“My brothers, count it pure joy when you are involved in every sort of trial.” —James 1:2

For about thirty years I have taught the Lord’s command to consider various trials “all joy.” Today I read this in my hospital room. I haven’t been allowed to eat or drink even water or ice chips for about a day. I’ve had an IV stuck in me for hours. And I have had four enemas. It has never been more clear to me that the command to consider trials “all joy” is truly a miracle.

This command is not a burdensome challenge to our will-power but a call to rise above ourselves and live in the supernatural dimension by utterly depending on the Lord. This grace strengthens our faith, producing perseverance which can result in our becoming “fully mature and lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:4). How privileged we are to be commanded to do things that we cannot do! How blessed we are to move from grace to grace and not just from human limitation to human limitation! May we let the Lord repeatedly do the impossible in our lives. Let us rejoice in sufferings (Col 1:24; 1 Pt 4:13), love our enemies (Lk 6:27, 35), deny our very selves (Lk 9:23) and generally do things we cannot do. Live the new, abundant, eternal life in the Lord.

Prayer: Father, fill me with joy in living in You.

Promise: “If any of you is without wisdom, let him ask it from the God Who gives generously and ungrudgingly to all, and it will be given him.” —Jas 1:5

Praise: Margaret gives heartfelt thanks to Jesus for waking up each day.

Continued reflections on Suffering:

From: James 1:12-18

The Value of Suffering (Continuation)

[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

[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.

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).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.