Faith without works

[Paul_theApostle]

St James said faith without works is a dead faith,is prayer in ones room like the rosary or chaplets considered ‘works’?

How do we know if we are doing any works with our faith?

 

[Zekariya]

True faith in Christ produces works that are becoming of Christians (such as living the fruit of the Spirit). Works is the outward manifestation of faith in Christ.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

True faith in Christ produces works that are becoming of Christians (such as living the fruit of the Spirit). Works is the outward manifestation of faith in Christ.

What if we just pray and do nothing else? is that sufficent work?

 

[Zekariya]

What if we just pray and do nothing else? is that sufficent work?

Prayer alone does not make you a Christian. Good works include how we treat others.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity [unconditional love], joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, Mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

Well a hermit who lives alone may not see another person at all for many years

He may pray with love for others

 

[Zekariya]

Well a hermit who lives alone may not see another person at all for many years

He may pray with love for others

This is true. However, your typical person interacts with others and either bears good fruit or bad fruit.

If I pray all the time and have not love in my heart, it is all in vain.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

I thought praying for others was one of or the highest form of love we can give someone

when we pray ,i think we all try as much as we can to focus on what we are saying and to mean it

Is bearing good or bad fruit always related to our actions towards others?

 

[Zekariya]

I thought praying for others was one of or the highest form of love we can give someone

when we pray ,i think we all try as much as we can to focus on what we are saying and to mean it

Is bearing good or bad fruit always related to our actions towards others?

Do you treat people with the love of Christ? If so, you a bearing good fruit.

 

[Bookcat]

Good reading on Faith and Works in Paul

Pope Benedict XVI

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20081119_en.html

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20081126_en.html (scroll down)

and older one

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20061108_en.html

 

[MarcoPolo]

What if we just pray and do nothing else? is that sufficent work?

If that’s what God calls you to do. But if God calls you to serve the poor or build a church or minister to the sick or listen to a friend, etc… and you don’t, then that’s bad!

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

What if we just pray and do nothing else? is that sufficent work?

Probably, in particular circumstances. But if you life involves even a minimum of interatcion with people you are required to threat them like you would treat Christ. Even a smallest act of kindness counts as good works. If you were a complete hermit, spending all of your days in prayer, there would still be an opportunity for good works: by having a heart open to love even if there was no opportunity to do something concrete and ‘real’ for people.

 

[chimo]

St James said faith without works is a dead faith,is prayer in ones room like the rosary or chaplets considered ‘works’?

How do we know if we are doing any works with our faith?

Hi Paul. Works can also be interpreted as devotions. When for instance you need to make purchases to buy food, ect…, you need money so this same principal also applies with God. How then do we “earn” money before God. That is easy. It is by doing devotions and keeping at them. There is another way and it is through the process which the Church of Rome calls Redemptive Suffering. You see when one goes to Mass this work is not ours but it is the work and sacrifice of God. What we do outside the Mass therefore becomes our work and sacrifice. These works we do outside the Mass however becomes very important for us for unless we do something during the week our faith is missing and actually you are only raiding the “refidgerator” every week when you come to Mass.

God expects you to do your part and to give Him “works” that He can also work with. So you give Him something, anything during the week and these “mustard seeds” can give Him glory. Your work during the week must cooperate with His on Sundays if your faith will mean anything to Him. Faith is taking the first step without seeing the whole staircase. However many people want the staircase without taking any steps at all! This does not as say St. James work with God. You try to take bread from a grocery store without paying for it and see where that will get you. Now here I am referring to people who can work. If you are healthy and are able to work then stealing is not the way. But that is what happens when we go to Mass and do nothing for the Lord during the week. We are stealing from Him! God expects those people who are able to do devotions to do their part.

The easiest of all devotions is to pray for another. Prayer is one of the three degrees of mercy we need to exercise to our neighbour. The other two are by word and by action. When the person in the Gospel of St. Luke decided to hid a large sum of money in a hankerchief the Lord told this person why didn’t you put this money into a bank account so as to earn interest when I come back. Earning interest is an easy way for this money to get bigger so God is pointing to us in this parable to enter the work or devotion of praying for another!
Praying for another can also make the investment God gives to us every Sunday bigger!

You see God gives you an enormous investment at every Mass. What He wants you to do with this investment is to make it bigger before you come to Him for another investment. If you do make it bigger I expect a big smile from the Lord who will gladly give you another investment. This is what St. James means when he says faith without works is dead. Your work must accompany what the Lord does.

 

[JRKH]

Paul…

“Faith without works is dead”…so to gauge the health of our faith, we look to see what our works are. That is - how are we living our lives. Many Catholics do this when we do an “examination of conscience”.
Have you considered this? Have you considered how an examination of conscience is one way of measuring the health of ones faith? The more sin and the more serious the sin - the less healthy is one’s faith.
On the opposite side of this examination of conscience would be an examination of good things that we have done. Prayer is certainly one of these but should not be taken in isolation from the rest of what we are called to be and do in our particular vocation and station in life.

So - just as a person might measure weight, or how far they can run, or how much weight they can lift, in order to gauge their physical fitness, the Christian measures “works” - actions - (good or bad) in order gauge the health of their faith.

You ask if prayer is considered a work…What does your heart tell you?

You ask if just prayer is enough…What does your heart tell you in your personal situation?

Peace
James

 

[Paul_theApostle]

Thanks for replies
and Chimo for your response

and James ,i do feel in my heart prayer is a work,because we pray or do our best to pray with faith and love for ourselves and others and the departed

I asked because lately i feel prayer is all ive been able to do,and have stopped doing helpful activities at the church reaching out to others because ive been distracted with ther things
and i hardly see or spend time with anyone but my mother at home

i understand better about bearing good fruit ,and St James also said what good is it if we just say ‘God bless you’ to a hungry person instead of giving them some food

anyhow i will just say i feel most of my good works has disapeared lately because ive been struggling with gambling and an obsession to gain more money and all my church activities ended

This greed or gambling has taken a big bite out of my life and i feel i want my spiritual activities back ,but ive been praying alot everyday now and its helping,and hope i can get back on track

Thank you
Peace

 

[Zekariya]

Thanks for replies
and Chimo for your response

and James ,i do feel in my heart prayer is a work,because we pray or do our best to pray with faith and love for ourselves and others and the departed

I asked because lately i feel prayer is all ive been able to do,and have stopped doing helpful activities at the church reaching out to others because ive been distracted with ther things
and i hardly see or spend time with anyone but my mother at home

I am in the same place right now. I am disabled and living with my parents. Remember that good works can be as simple as treating others nicely and praying for them. We are not all called to be missionaries, working with the poor, ordination to the priesthood, etc. As life goes on, the works that we are capable of doing change. What matters to God is your heart.

We are called to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. How exactly we do that changes depending on our circumstances. We can’t all be a hand or a foot in the body of Christ. What someone is doing is not necessarily what you are meant to do.

In Christ,
Zekariya