Living Faith

Details: 01 April 2011

We are all familiar with the story of the rich man and Lazarus given to us by Jesus, as recorded by the evangelist St. Luke in the sixteenth chapter of his gospel. The rich man remains nameless while the poor man’s name we know.

We are told that the rich man not only was dressed to the hilt with expensive clothes but he ate the finest most delicious foods while poor Lazarus wished only for the scraps that fell from his well-adorned table. To make matters worse, dogs roaming the streets used to lick his sores. Eventually the tables turned when they both died. While the poor man was carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham, the rich man found himself in the fires of hell. One wonders if the rich man, now eternally poor, thought of the hunger pains Lazarus experienced while living as he longed for the water-soaked finger tip of Lazarus on his scorched tongue (Lk 16:19-31).

One may also wonder if the Apostle James recalled this story as he wrote his epistle. In it we are told that faith without works is dead and cannot save. This is what we call ‘dead faith,’ faith without love. St. James says, "What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘God in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead … You see that a man is justified by works and not faith alone" (Jas 2:14-26).

Of course we cannot work our way into heaven by ourselves. We simply cannot save ourselves by ourselves. We need help, we need a Savior. Scripture is clear that we are saved by the grace of God. It is by this saving grace entitled ‘Sanctifying Grace’ that leads to living faith, faith formed with love that leads to our salvation. We receive this saving grace for the first time with baptism and is extended and completed by the sacrament of confirmation. Since the effects of original sin remains after baptism, we must cooperate with God to remain in the state of sanctifying grace. Thank God that we have the seven sacraments, which are founts of grace. Every time we receive a sacrament we receive grace. The two sacraments we may receive frequently are the Most Holy Eucharist and Confession. When received frequently we obtain the ability to practice our faith in a living or loving manner.

I am constantly edified by the living or loving faith of our donors and volunteers who by their generosity of their prayers, penances, time, talent and treasure they share with Catholic Social Services we are able to love Jesus present in the poor and needy. Did not Jesus tell us our salvation is dependent in serving His presence in the poor? Did He not tell us that what ever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do to Him (Mt 25:31-46)? Last year, with your help, Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska assisted around 24,000 individuals across southern Nebraska. Many thanks to all of our donors for without you, there would not be a Catholic Social Services. Please remember that you remain in our daily prayers!