“Brothers and sisters, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it?

Such faith has no power to save…. Show me your faith without works, and I

will show you the faith that underlies my works! Do you believe that God is

one? You’re quite right. The demons believe that and shudder. Do you want

proof, you ignoramus, that without works faith is idle? Was not our father

Abraham justified by his works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?”

(James 2:14, 18-21)

This is the famous passage in Saint James letter that Protestants,

particularly Evangelicals hate, because it contradicts their whole theology of

faith alone. Sola Fidae. This is why they refer to the epistle of James as “the

epistle of straw,” because they just can’t throw it out. But they don’t know what to do with it so they just largely ignore it. “All you have to do is

profess on your lips that Jesus Christ is your personal Lord and Savior, and

you’re saved.” That’s the evangelical approach.

Well, not according to James, and really, not according to Saint Paul either.

They’re just pulling what Paul says in Romans 10:10 out of context. What

James says here is a key point in our theology and our parting with

fundamentalist Christians, so let’s take a closer at this.

What’s wrong with professing on our lips that Jesus Christ is our personal

Lord and Savior? Absolutely nothing. Do it everyday. We do it, in fact, every

time we say the Creed during Mass on Sunday, or we say the Creed at the

beginning of a rosary or chaplet. In that profession of faith we are stating

more elaborately and completely that Jesus Christ is Lord. If you were to

boil the Creed down to its central theme, that would be it.

But James says here, even the demons do that much. They have to.

That’s part of their punishment. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, “at the

name of Jesus every knee must bow in the heavens, on the earth, and under

the earth.” What does that mean? Even demons and souls of the damned

must do homage to the name of Jesus. Well, if that’s the case, what’s the

difference between demons and us? Or angels and demons? The difference

is that demons are completely void of love.

Demons are completely void of charity. Demons are completely void of

mercy. In a word, demons are completely void of good works. That’s the

difference between them and us. We can practice charity. They can’t.

When we practice charity, we imitate our God who is all-charitable. We

cannot imitate God on any other level. We can’t be all knowing. We can’t be

all powerful. But we can practice charity from our hearts. In that way we

can imitate our God. The problem occurs, and this is where the evangelicals

have a legitimate gripe with us, when Catholics think they can buy their way

into heaven.

So I know I’m going to heaven, because I give a million dollars a year to

charity. Yeah, but you make 20 million a year, so that’s not a real big

sacrifice now, is it? If your charity doesn’t challenge you to give up your

sinful practices, does it do any good? No. Sorry, but no cigar. Or, we can

practice charity with our wallets and stop there, not allowing it to challenge

us to practice charity in our words and thoughts.

How many people dutifully give to charity, even tithe, but then trash their

neighbor with gossip? That’s a serious sin, brothers and sisters. Gossip

is character assassination. It kills a person’s reputation. It sins against

charity. As Christians, we are always supposed to be looking for the best in

another person, not the worst. We’re supposed to presume innocence, not

guilt.

Brothers and sisters, I invite us today to think about Saint James’ words,

and ask ourselves, do my works reflect my faith, and does my faith shine

through my works?

Blessed Be God Forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco

Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents

Quote From a Saint: “Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without

which no man is saved.” -- Saint Robert Bellarmine

Prayer By a Saint “Lord, increase my faith, bless my efforts and work, now

and for evermore. Amen.” -- Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Questions for Reflection:

1. “In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,

and he cried out in a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus

of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy

One of God!” (Lk4:33,34; Mk 1:23,24) What distinguishes your profession of

faith from that of this demon?

2. What works set you apart?

3. Do your works increase your faith?

4. Does your faith shine through your works?

5. Do your works challenge you to give up your sinful practices?

6. What good comes to others from your work?

7. What good comes to you from your work?

8. Throughout her work, “Interior Castle”, St. Teresa of Avila talks of

penance, prayer, mortification, solitude, humility and obedience. Still,

she makes the point that the Lord asks of us only two things: love of His

majesty and love of our neighbor. Do your works and other spiritual

practices increase your love of His majesty and glorify Him?

9. Do they increase your love of your neighbor?

By Susan Boudreau

Week 59: Desire for Love Motivates Penance: A Reflection on Isaiah 58: 4-7

“Yet your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw….

Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance…. This,

rather is the fasting I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the

thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing

your bread with the hungry; sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;

clothing the naked when you see them; and not turning your back on your

own.” (Is 58:4-7)

I have said that the three classic forms of penance during Lent--prayer,

fasting, and almsgiving--underscore the three messages that Lent is

supposed to convey. Fasting reminds us of who we were, people of the

flesh, powerless against the cravings and whims of the flesh. Prayer

reminds us of who we are; people on a journey to our Father’s kingdom.

Almsgiving reminds us of who we hope to become, namely like God himself,

who is all-charitable. This reading from the prophet Isaiah reinforces that.

“Yet your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw….

Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance…. This,

rather is the fasting I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the

thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing

your bread with the hungry; sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;

clothing the naked when you see them; and not turning your back on your

own.” (Is 58:4-7)

So Isaiah says here that our fasting has to be done with the motivation to

increase our love, increase our charity. If it doesn’t, if our fasting exists in a

vacuum, if it doesn’t remind us of who we were and so motivate us to strive

toward what we hope to become, our fasting is pointless.

None of these three forms of penance--prayer, fasting, and almsgiving--is

meant to be undertaken alone. They all interact with one another for the

purpose of helping us more closely imitate Christ and make us like the Father. So

our fasting should increase our charity, as Isaiah says here. Our prayer, a

reminder of who we are, pilgrims on a journey, should increase our charity

by getting us to focus on our heavenly home where we are all brothers and

sisters. Our charity should stem from our desire to be like God, which comes

from our fasting and prayer.

Do we advance spiritually or get extra credit because we can give to charity

for no reason other than to make ourselves look good? How about if we give to

charity simply as a tax shelter? Guess what? No moral credit. Our motivation

should always be our desire to become like God, and our love for humanity.

Psalm 51:19 says, “A broken, humble heart O God you will not scorn.”

That is the ultimate purpose of our prayer, fasting, and charity, to make

us humble. And that, my brothers and sisters, is how we make a sacrifice

pleasing to the Lord.

Blessed Be God Forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco

Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents

Quote From a Saint: “Give something, however small, to the one in need.

For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we

have given what we could." -- Saint Gregory Nazianzen

Prayer “O Lord my God, Teach my heart this day where and how to see

you, where and how to find you. You have made me and remade me, and

you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess, and still I do not

know you. I have not yet done that for which I was made. Teach me to

seek you; for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, or find you unless you

show yourself to me. Let me seek you in my desire; let me desire you in my

seeking. Let me find you by loving you, let me love you when I find you.”

-- Saint Anselm

Questions for Reflection:

1. What penance are you doing for Lent?

2. How did this penance come to be chosen?

3. What is your purpose in this particular penance?

4. Does this penance combine prayer, fasting and almsgiving?

5. Does this penance increase your love of God or help you to know Him

better?

6. Does this penance increase your love of neighbor or help you to see God

in him or her?

7. Will this penance break your heart?

8. Will this penance build virtue, especially humility?

9. Is your Lenten sacrifice pointless or pleasing to God?

10. Does this penance meet the criteria set forth by Isaiah?

By Susan Boudreau

Week 58: Where Laziness Can Lead: A Reflection on 2 Samuel 11

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful.³David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, ‘This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’⁴So David sent messengers to fetch her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house.⁵The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’

6 So David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent Uriah to David.⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going.⁸Then David said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house, and wash your feet.’ Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king.⁹But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.¹⁰When they told David, ‘Uriah did not go down to his house’, David said to Uriah, ‘You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?’¹¹Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths;^* and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.’¹²Then David said to Uriah, ‘Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.’ So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day,¹³David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.¹⁵In the letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.’¹⁶As Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant warriors.¹⁷The men of the city came out and fought with Joab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was killed as well.¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting;¹⁹and he instructed the messenger, ‘When you have finished telling the king all the news about the fighting,²⁰then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, “Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?²¹Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal?^* Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?” then you shall say, “Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.” ’

22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell.²³The messenger said to David, ‘The men gained an advantage over us, and came out against us in the field; but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.²⁴Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall; some of the king’s servants are dead; and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’²⁵David said to the messenger, ‘Thus you shall say to Joab, “Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city, and overthrow it.” And encourage him.’

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him.²⁷When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. (2 Samuel 11)

Today we see one of David’s big sins, but it is probably the sin he’s most remembered by; his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the murdering of her husband Uriah. Now this is David’s first big fall, to a sin of the flesh.

And an interesting thing to note here is, look how the sin compounds itself. Where does the sin begin? With adultery? No. With laziness.

Where are David’s men? At war laying siege to a city.

Where is David? Where is the King? Where is the leader of the people? HOME in Jerusalem. What the heck was David doing at home while his men were engaged in battle? David, the king, should have been with his troops at the front. He isn’t. Instead he stays home. And this is a good lesson,  brothers and sisters. This is a good lesson on how laziness, idleness, can be a springboard to get us into bigger and better sins.

Because what happens while David is home? After rising from a siesta, (there we go again, more laziness) he’s taking an evening stroll on his roof and there he sees Bathsheba bathing in a nearby courtyard. David’s laziness gives him the opportunity to lust, which leads him to have an affair with Bathsheba, which leads her to getting pregnant.

Now here’s an awkward position to be in. Well, better get a hold of Uriah, her husband, and come clean, right? No. Now it’s time for a cover up. So David sends for Uriah under the pretense of giving him a progress report on what’s happening with the war. But in actuality he just wants Uriah to go home to his wife so David’s sin can be covered up. Now here is the ultimate irony.       David has shown his disloyalty to Uriah by having an affair with his wife. But Uriah demonstrates his loyalty to David by not going home to his wife when he has the opportunity. Instead he stays with the other officers. When David questions Uriah on this, he responds, “Far be it from me to enjoy my home and my wife while my kings officers and men sleep on the battle field. I will not go home until my lord and king is victorious over ALL his enemies!”

Uh, gee, thanks Uriah.

So David tries getting him drunk. That doesn’t work either. And here, in the ultimate irony, David sends Uriah back to front with a sealed message for his army officer Joab, basically telling Joab to kill Uriah, and make it look like an accident. That’s how Uriah’s loyalty to David was repaid.

So David’s lust leads him to deception, and murder, and maybe even bigotry. I’ve often wondered, if Uriah was a Jew would David still have had him murdered? Uriah’s not a Jew. He’s a Hittite. He’s a legal alien living in the land. But it’s obvious that Uriah is extremely loyal to David, but still he’s a foreigner. Could David have been thinking, “What’s one more dead pagan? God won’t care. It’s not like I’m killing one of my kinsmen. It’s not like a killing another Jew.” Could bigotry be here as well?

It all started with laziness, my brothers and sisters. When we are lazy, when we’re idle, when we do not actively go to war with our sinful inclinations, when we do not actively try to build the kingdom of God by spreading seeds as the Gospel tells us, then we leave ourselves open for temptation and sin.

Dr. Peter Kreeft has a good book called, “Prayer for Beginners.” In it he says, “None of us is going to get to heaven and say, “Gee, I spent way too much time praying and doing charitable works. I should have watched more TV.”

Diligence, my brothers and sisters. The road to eternity is paved by diligence.

And blessed be God forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco, Visitor

Confraternity of Penitents 

Prayer:

O my God, I know well that so negligent a life as mine cannot please You. I know that by my lukewarmness I have closed the door to the graces which You desire to bestow on me. O my God, do not reject me, as I deserve, but continue to be merciful toward me, and I will make great efforts to amend and to arise from this miserable state. In the future I will be more careful to overcome my passions and to follow Your inspirations; and never through slothfulness will I omit my duties, but will strive to fulfill them with greater diligence and fidelity. In short, I will from this time forward do all I can to please You, and will neglect nothing which I know to be pleasing to You.

Since You, O my Jesus, have been so liberal with Your graces toward me and have deigned to give Your Blood and Your Life for me, I am sorry for having acted with so little generosity toward You, Who are worthy of all honor and all love. But, O my Jesus, You know my weakness. Help me with Your powerful grace; in You I confide.

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, help me to overcome myself and to become a saint. Amen.

Quote from a Saint: 

It is easier to mend neglect than to quicken love. -- Saint Jerome 

Questions for Reflection: 

1. How many sins did David’s laziness lead to? Enumerate and count them.
2. How does the prayer act as an antidote to laziness?
3. Discuss the quote by Saint Jerome. What does it have to do with laziness?
4. Laziness (sloth) is one of the seven deadly sins. Why is it so harmful?
5. How does sloth impact one’s spiritual growth?
6. Are you guilty of the sin of laziness? How do you know? If so, what can you do to overcome this fault?
7. Could bigotry be a form of laziness? How?
8. How can laziness lead to other “bigger and better sins” in the modern world? Can you give any examples of where this seems to have happened?
9. How does one strike a balance between laziness and work-a-holism?
10. How is the road to eternity "paved with diligence"?

--Madeline Pecora Nugent

Week 57: The Lord’s Anointed: A Reflection on 1 Samuel 24: 1-8)

When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, ‘David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. ’²Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to look for David and his men in the direction of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³He came to the sheepfolds beside the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself.^* Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. ⁴The men of David said to him, ‘Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, “I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.” ’ Then David went and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak. ⁵Afterwards David was stricken to the heart because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak. ⁶He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to raise my hand against him; for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ⁷So David scolded his men severely and did not permit them to attack Saul. Then Saul got up and left the cave, and went on his way. (1 Samuel 24: 1-8)

We have a very interesting scene in the Old Testament where Saul, David’s enemy, is completely in David’s power and David does not kill him. Let’s look at the incident. Saul has picked three thousand men and is on a hunt to kill David. Saul, in his jealousy of David, is convinced that David is out to destroy him. And, yet despite this, David is probably one of Saul’s most loyal subjects.

But Saul hunts relentlessly for David, and when he’s close to trapping him, Saul goes to relieve himself in the very cave where David and his men are

hiding. And here David has his opportunity to kill Saul. But he doesn’t. He slips up behind Saul and cuts off the end of his mantle, so he can prove to him that he spared his life when he had the opportunity to take it.

But note David’s words. Notice his reasoning when his men are encouraging him to kill Saul. “Far be it from me to lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.” Even though Saul has committed injustice on top of injustice to David, David

refuses to do Saul bodily harm, because like him or not, God chose him to

be king. And if God put him here, it’s God’s job to take him out.

In the Gospel, we see Jesus choosing the twelve, and note that Judas Iscariot is among them. The evangelist Mark never lets the audience forget that Judas was the betrayer. As soon as Judas is introduced in Mark, Chapter Three, the first time he’s ever mentioned, he’s introduced as the betrayer.

But also, Mark never lets his audience forget that Judas was one of the twelve. Judas was in the inner circle. Judas was one of those closest to Jesus. And Jesus chose him for a reason. Jesus saw something in Judas that was worthy of being an apostle. Judas, just as much as the other eleven, was chosen by God, and given the authority to preach and expel demons.

The Lord’s anointed.

In the Old Testament, there’s a story of the prophet Balaam. Balaam is hired by the king of Midian to curse the Israelite people, because the king of Midian is afraid that the Israelites are getting to powerful. Balaam accepts, because even though he’s a true prophet, he’s an unscrupulous man. He’s a prophet for hire. But an interesting thing happens. Each time he opens his mouth to curse Israel, blessings come out instead. And the more he tries to curse Israel, the more and more elaborate the blessings become. And this makes perfect sense. Because he is a true prophet, he can’t speak falsely in the name of God, so he cannot curse what God has blessed.

I don’t think we understand the significance of being the Lord’s anointed. How many times have you heard people bad mouth a priest or a bishop? Now we’ve all had negative experiences with priests, myself included. We’ve all been frustrated by or disagreed with bishops and made the statements, “Well, why doesn’t the Bishop excommunicate some of these people?” But what good does trashing them do? They’re still the Lord’s anointed. God chose them for a reason, and, if they’re not living up to their call, all we can do is pray for them, because maybe, just maybe, they’re living up to their call, but we’re not living up to ours.

There was a priest who did a lot of damage to a lot of people in my home town, once upon a time. He was mean spirited, and very coarse. He openly mocked parishioners who disagreed with him, sometimes from the pulpit. But he never turned away a beggar who came to the door. He raised money for a poor village in Haiti, and he would visit it every year with food and clothing supplies he gathered from the parish, and spend a week ministering sacraments to the people. God saw something in him worthy of being an apostle.

Pray for the Lord’s anointed, my brothers and sisters, that we priests may live up to our calling, and pray that the rest of the Church has the patience and respect needed to see something worthy of apostleship in those who don’t live up to their calling.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco, Visitor

Confraternity of Penitents

Prayer:

O God, who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the eternal High Priest for the glory of Thy Majesty and the salvation of mankind; grant that they whom He hath chosen to be His ministers and the stewards of His mysteries, may be found faithful in the fulfillment of the ministry which they have received. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen

Quote from a Saint:

“If ever I were a priest, I would win many sargie="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:/span>

Questions for Reflection:

1. What attitudes toward priests exist todour lifetime?

2. Make a list of all traits you think a good priest should have. Consider your parish priest. Which of these does he possess?

3. Which traits does your parish priest lack? If any, is there anything you, as a parishioner, can do to help foster the growth of those missing virtues?

4. What should be our response as Catholics to priests who sin?

5. What should be our response to priests who are not teaching the full doctrine of the Church?

6. What can you do to support priests, particularly your parish priest, in his priestly ministry?

7. What can you do to support your bishop in his role?

8. Discuss Father Sisco’s illustration about the mean spirited priest. What lessons does it teach?

9. Discuss David’s treatment of Saul in the Bible passage above. What does that teach us?

10. Father Sisco mentions that Jesus chose Judas and so must have seen good in him. How does that apply to priests who have harmed the flock?

11. How often do you pray for priests? For a particular priest? Should you improve? How?

12. Find the passage on Balaam in the Bible (Numbers 22-24) and discuss it.

13. St. John Vianney made the above statement before he was ordained. Do you think you have to be priest to win souls to God? What special aids does a priest have in this regard? If you are not a priest, how can God help you to win souls for God? Is it important to do this?

--Madeline Pecora Nugent