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From: James 1:1-11
Address and Greetings
The Value of Suffering
[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 humilia-
tion, 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 com-
munity 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 out-
standingly faithful to the Lord (cf. Psalm 34:22), such as Moses, David, the pro-
phets; 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 be-
ginning.
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 be-
have 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 re-
minds them that the reward God promises to those who endure trials is blessed-
ness (verse 12). The whole passage clearly reflects the Beatitudes of the Ser-
mon 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 re-
vealed 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”, Bl. 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 here do not seem to be persecutions, but rather every-
day adversity — perhaps poverty especially (cf. 1:9; 2:5-7)—which tests the Chris-
tian’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 suf-
fering; 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 cruci-
fied — 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 oppor-
tunity 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 Ca-
techism” 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 firm-
ness 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 lis-
tens to our requests, and He answers them without humiliating us, without remin-
ding 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 con-
scious of your misery”, St. Escriva says, that you acknowledge yourself unwor-
thy 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 ad-
verse 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 ex-
periencing. 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 in-
stance 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 pos-
sessions 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, imper-
manent things to be used in the service of others and of society, and not just for
oneself.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Thanks for the daily readings. I started a new job, in the morning I go over the readings and soak them in, helps me get through the day.