(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
We begin a series of readings from the letter of James. One may ask who James is. Where I celebrate Mass there are three people named David, too many, some think, for our group. The same is true of James: there are three mentioned in the New Testament. The best choice for us is James, called the brother of the Lord. His thought is like the thinking of the ancient Jewish wisdom literature, despite the fact that he does write in excellent Greek.
Who wrote the letter of James? If we were judge from his style and his Greek, we would probably say the author was someone closely connected with James who writes with the authority of James.
Such behavior we would not tolerate in our society. Were you to write something in my style and in my name, you may open yourself up to a lawsuit. Not so in the ancient world, for it was considered an honor when a colleague would name a friend as the author of a piece of writing.
The author stresses faith in action. It is not enough to profess being Christian, one must also do Christian. There are social consequences to being Christian. To say yes to Christ is to say yes to the refugee at our border. To say yes to Christ is to see the brokenness of the people around us who call on us for help. To say yes to Christ is also to admit joy into our hearts even in times of difficulty.
Being Christian makes demands on the rich and on the poor. Christ, not wealth, gets us to heaven. Christ, not trials, gives us cause for joy.
A distinguished student of James, in the style of a Jewish wisdom seeker who also has a good command of Greek, who writes us in the name of James of his mentor and with the authority of an early disciple, will be the focus of these homilies for most of the next two weeks. He has messages for everyone, for rich as well as poor. We all do well to listen to him.