“You have faith and I have works. “Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith from my works./”Uno tiene la fe y otro, las obras” Muéstrame, si puedes, tu fe sin las obras. Yo, en cambio, por medio de las obras, te demostraré mi fe.—James/Santiago 2:18
“Faith is the golden thread which binds us to the Lord, the pure joy of being with the him, united with him,” said Pope Francis in a 2016 homily in Azerbaijan. “Faith is a gift that lasts our whole life, bearing fruit only if we play our part.” But what is our part? Our part is service; faith grows when we put into action service to others.
“When faith is interwoven with service,” Francis continued, “the heart remains open and youthful, expands in the process of doing good. Thus faith, as Jesus tells us in the Gospel, becomes powerful and accomplishes marvelous deeds. If faith follows this path, it matures and grows in strength, but only when it is joined to service.”
But what is service? Service begins by being open and available, loving those around us with simple, ordinary deeds. This makes me think of something I read from Mária Dominika Vanková in an August article in Today’s American Catholic. She was traveling in Cambodia and recalled a moment when the bus stopped for a short break to buy food. As happened, the line was too long and she wasn’t able to get the coffee she had hoped for. “Deep in [her] theories on how to make the world better,” she returned to the bus sad that she hadn’t been able to get her drink. The bus driver noticed her demeanor. On learning what happened he offered his drink without hesitation. “Religion,” Vanková continued, “in its true sense as a force of friendship, peace, justice...can prevent violence and misfortune, but ultimately, it is up to people to live faith authentically and thoroughly.”
Showcasing SHA talent: The line for coffee may have been long, but luckily for Joshua in 6th, the line for hotdogs wasn’t.
God bless,
Mrs. Alhadef
Campus Minister
4th Grade Aide