Faith and Works
James 2: What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? … 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?
It can be easy to say that we have faith or to say we have faith when everything is going well. However, when there are things that seemingly hard, dark, and unclear, that is when the faith can really show. The faith, even though unseen and seems no clarity on where the road is going or what the road entails, you have the best discernment and know that by faith God is helping us to go through what could be impossible, and what could be something that has not been done or has not been overcome in the past. We are called to reflect on our lifestyle, habits and our neighborhood's whereabout. How is your lifestyle addressing the needs of the ecology and society?
This Week's Laudato Si:
Article 158 (highlight): It is our poorest brothers and sisters whose basic human rights and dignity are not mostly being met, or not being met. It is situation like this upon which we are invited to ponder on where our solidarity is with humanity and our love for our Creator to make the common goods available for all (1 Cor. 12:7-12, Rm 8:28). In the present condition of global society where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good as it is also mentioned in Evangelii Gaudium. The people can find effective means of making these rights accessible to all.
Article 201 (highlight): With the believers in the world, we can be more effective in having a healthy dialogue in tackling the environmental issues. The cooperation of people from different sciences to address the demands of the ecological crisis is needed in facing deliberate steps and take actions with "patience, self-discipline, and generosity."
Article 205 (highlight): As human beings, we can still take appropriate actions that people can still long for good, true and beautiful reaching out to make dignity possible for all.
Article 208 (highlight): In order to identify the value of every parts of creation, we can be concerned by the needs of the others by taking concrete actions. Every actions we take creates an impact to the world around us if we only surpass the individual mindset that destroys our concern for others.
Article (211 highlight): Ecological citizenship helps us to reflect on what we can do in order to be transformed and have renewed mind towards correcting bad habits, educating ourselves on what can be done. Some of the practical examples given in this articles are: avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.
Prayers for the Faithful
1. To help care for our common home by caring for our community and neighborhood.
2. To change our lifestyle so that we can decrease or stop the habits that can only harm the world and live on what is truly life-giving lifestyles.
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