What We Do and Who We Are

Take some time to read through the passage, James 2:14-18, then return to this reflection. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Why spend fourteen weeks focusing on the works of mercy? Because what we do with our faith is crucial to who we are as people of faith. 

The Gospel of Matthew ends with the commissioning, the sending forth of the Apostles to the ends of the earth. They are given two tasks. First, they are to baptize – spread the Good News of salvation from sin, the hope of eternal life, and the immense sacrificial love of God for all his children. Second, they are to teaching all that they encounter to observe all that Christ taught the disciples. 

I know from a few college classes and many books read over the years, that experiential learning is crucial for us to cement our understanding of concepts. You weren’t just taught English, you wrote essays and stories. You didn’t just read about chemical reactions, you experimented in lab. 

It is tempting to reduce that great commissioning of the Apostles, and by extension all of us, to mere words. It is tempting to see the call to spread the Gospel as merely a verbal exercise. Yet, Christ did not rely solely upon words when he taught the disciples and Apostles. He healed the sick. He multiplied bread and fish to feed the hungry. He comforted widows and saved servants. He upturned tables. His teachings were exemplified and amplified by his actions. The acts of salvation demonstrated the depth of truth behind the words of salvation Christ offered. Christ’s words and actions are impossible to untangle, for to accept one without the other loses the meaning and import of each. 

To truly fulfill that final commission, to truly be disciples in the world, we need to not only speak the truth, but live the truth. We need to demonstrate the love of God for all h is children and the love we have for God to others. We need our actions to demonstrate the depth and truth of our faith and God’s love.

As the Letter from James reminds us, we cannot merely wish others well, we must provide what they need to be well. St. Teresa of Avila reminds us that our hands, our feet, what we choose to do in the world that will be Christ’s presence in the world.

What will you do today to be Christ in the world?

Jennifer Delvaux

Director of Faith Formation

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