The WORD today reminds me that our actions need to go with our faith.

Talk is cheap. It is easy to say good things. It is easy to say you love someone or you will help someone. However, proving it is a different thing. Proving it is more difficult. However, actions are required to show how true words are. This is similar to what the readings show today about faith and actions.

The second reading says it explicitly – “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” In simple words, “Faith without works is dead.” As followers of Christ, we need to live our faith. Our actions should be a testament of our faith. We cannot just say we have faith in God and we love God if we do not move our feet and do things for other people for the glory of God. We cannot say we lift everything to God and have faith that God will provide for others. He needs people too to reach out to others. God needs us to help out others and make them feel his love. As we do that, not only are they blessed, but we too as well.

God asks us to walk the talk. God asks us to act. He is not contented with lip service – with words professing our faith and love to him. He himself said in today’s gospel – whoever wants to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Sumunod daw. Gumalaw. He himself did this, when he died on the cross for us, to save us from our sins and give us everlasting life. He did not just say I love God and I love you guys – he lived his faith and his love, even when it is difficult and painful. He died a painful death to prove his love for God and for us. As as His followers, we too should be willing to prove our love for and faith in God.

We are still in a pandemic. Though vaccination has started, we have a long way to go. We have a long way before we get a semblance of normalcy. There are still a lot of people who need help. There are still a lot of people we can help. We should continue to help others and live our faith.

Am I living my faith in God, or do I just do lip service? How far am I willing to go to live my faith? Do I just work when I feel like it, or am I willing to step out of my comfort zone and do things for God even if it is not easy to, even if it is not comfortable for me? How can I encourage others to live their faith as well?

May we always remember that our faith should be backed up by our actions.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another Sunday. Thank you for reminding me how important it is to live my faith. Lord, I am sorry for the times I failed you. Sorry for the times I did not do as you please. Sorry for the times I am contented with words and with faith, and not do the extra effort and the more challenging task of living my faith. Lord, I ask that you help me live my life as a testament of my faith. Help me show you that I love you, not just with words but with my actions as well. May I be willing to move my feet and step out of my comfort zone for you – to make your love alive in people and to live our my faith and love for you. Amen.

Blessed Sunday!

In Christ,

-g-

Daily Readings

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 131

Reading I

Is 50:5-9a

The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
   have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
   my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
   from buffets and spitting.

The Lord GOD is my help,
   therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
   knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
   if anyone wishes to oppose me,
   let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
   Let that man confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
   who will prove me wrong?

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

R. (9)    I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R.   Alleluia.
I love the LORD because he has heard
   my voice in supplication,
Because he has inclined his ear to me
   the day I called.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R.   Alleluia.
The cords of death encompassed me;
   the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
   I fell into distress and sorrow,
And I called upon the name of the LORD,
   “O LORD, save my life!”
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gracious is the LORD and just;
   yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
   I was brought low, and he saved me.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For he has freed my soul from death,
   my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the LORD
   in the land of the living.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading II

Jas 2:14-18

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, ”
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say,
“You have faith and I have works.”
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

Alleluia

Gal 6:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord
through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 8:27-35

Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it.”

My Simple Reflection

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Faith and Action