DIVINE WHISPER with FR. PIUSRALPH EFFIONG, SMMM

FRIDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR (II)

Mystery of the day: Sorowful

Saint of the day

Blessed John of Fiesole

He was born in a village near Florence in the year 1395. His birth name was Guido di Pietro. He joined in a religious community at the Carmine church on October 17, 1417. He took a new name Fra Giovanni when he became a friar in the year 1423. Fiesole is the name of the town where he took his vow as a Dominican Friar. He was a painter by profession. Pope Eugenius-IV called him to Rome to paint the frescos of the chapel of the Holy Sacrament at St. Peters. Pope Nicholas-V offered the post of arch-bishop of Florence to him but he refused. He painted the scenes of the lives of the martyred deacons in the church of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence in the Vatican. He died on February 18, 1455 in Rome. 

He was beatified by Pope John Paul-II on October 3, 1982.

Reflection for the day

Theme: Show me your work and I will tell you how faithful you are to God.

"What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?" (James 2:14)

Obviously, faith and work interplay together to produce authentic spirituality. There is that strong synergy for the duo, as they go hand-in-hand with one another to define the genuineness of one's identity as a Christian.

In the light of this, that St. James in his letter reminded us of the essence of this two virtues: "faith" and "work" in the opening verse of the first reading:

"What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?" (James 2:14)

This therefore implies that, having faith alone does not make one a true Christian. It is an act of doing God's work and forgeting the God of the work. To balance it, it is pertinent to match the two together. As work itself is a divine act, for God Himself work to bring about a better world for humanity. (cf. Creation account in Genesis 1:1ff.)

However, claiming to have faith in God and becoming lazy to various act of goodness like charity, carrying out day-to-day chores to take care of the body, and keeping to the decree of God in the creation account to cultivate the earth (cf. Genesis 2:15) tantamount to what St. James described as "barren faith." 

Finally, let our work define our faith in God. It is through the fruit of our labour, outward shows of love for others that faith in God can be truly expressed. Peace! Be with you.

Let us pray

Merciful Lord, we praise You for the beauty of creation. Grant us we pray the grace to work alongside our believe in You; so that what we see as the foretaste of the life to come, may be experienced in its reality. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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