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Friday, 20 February
2004
Today the Church celebrates : St Wulfric
Faith
Letter of James 2,14-24.26.
Friday of the Sixth Week in
Ordinary Time
What good is it, my brothers, 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. You believe that God
is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof,
you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active
along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was
fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"
and he was called "the friend of God." See how a person is justified by works and
not by faith alone. For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without
works is dead.
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine,
USCCB
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