Francis of Assisi is quoted as saying, ‘The deeds you do may be the only sermon some people hear today.’ He would have appreciated today’s second reading from the letter of James, reminding us that faith, unaccompanied by good deeds, is quite dead. I imagine most of us would try to live our faith through our actions when we see people in need, yet there can be situations when to act justly risks opening yourself up to criticism which, for some, may undermine or even deter action in the first place. Sometimes it takes courage to step up and challenge injustice – not simply with action, but to be willing to question the circumstances which created the situation.
There is a strong theme of social justice in the Sunday readings this month, with a central focus of God’s Law being in conflict with man-made laws. Too often, the easy option is to close our eyes to those in need or leave it for someone else to help, rather than risk challenging the human ‘norms’ accepted by our own society. In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the suffering of the Son of Man, echoing the passage from Isaiah that we hear in the first reading. Who among us would want to face the rejection endured by the servant in that first reading? Perhaps it is a reminder not just of the suffering Jesus faced, but also that true faith is not easy or always comfortable, but requires the willingness to move against the grain and truly live our beliefs.