Pope at mass: a faith that does not bear fruit in works, is not faith
February 21, 2014: “A faith that does not bear fruit in works is not faith.” This
was the affirmation with which Pope Francis began his homily at Mass on Friday, following
the readings of the day. The Holy Father offered the Mass in the chapel of the Casa
Santa Marta in the Vatican, for the intention of Cardinal Silvano Piovanelli, emeritus
Archbishop of Florence, on his 90th birthday. The Pope thanked Cardinal Piovanelli
for “his work, his witness and his goodness.” The world is full of Christians
who often recite the words of the Creed, while very seldom putting them into practice
– or erudite scholars who reduce theology to a series of neat categories, neatly removed
and shielded from having any influence on real life. It is a danger that St. James
feared even two thousand years ago, and that Pope Francis made the subject of his
remarks to the faithful after the day’s readings on Friday, “[St. James’ statement],”
said Pope Francis, commenting on the passage from his Letter, which was read at Mass,
“is clear: faith without fruit in life, a faith that does not bear fruit in works,
is not faith.”
“Also, we often make the mistake of saying: ‘But I have a lot
of faith’, [and] ‘I believe everything, everything ...’- and maybe this person who
says [something like this] leads a lukewarm life, a weak [life]. His faith is as a
theory, though it is not alive in his life. The Apostle James, when he speaks of faith,
speaks precisely of doctrine, of that, which is what is the content of the faith.
Nevertheless, one might learn all the commandments , all the prophecies , all the
truths of faith, though if these are not put into practice, put to work, they are
useless. We can recite the Creed theoretically, even without faith, and there are
many people who do so – even the demons! The demons know very well what is said in
the Creed and know that it is the Truth.”
The words of Pope Francis echo the
assertion of St. James: “You believe that there is one God? You do well: the devils
also believe, and tremble.” The difference , the Pope added, is that the demons do
not “have faith” insofar as authentic faith, “is not [merely] to possess knowledge.”
Rather, “[to have faith means] receiving the message of God,” brought by Christ. The
Holy Father went on to say that, in the Gospel, there are two telltale signs of those,
who, “know what is to be believed, but do not have faith.” The first sign is a tendency
to “casuistry”, represented by those who asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay taxes,
or which of the seven brothers of the husband would have to marry the widowed woman.
The second sign is a commitment to “ideology”:
“Christians who think of faith
as a system of ideas, ideologically: there were such as these even ing Jesus’ own
day. The Apostle John says of them, that they were the antichrist, the ideologues
of faith, of whatsoever [ideological] stamp they might have been. At that time there
were the Gnostics, but there will [always] be many – and thus, those who fall into
casuistry or those who fall into ideology are Christians who know the doctrine, but
without faith, like demons. The difference is that the demons tremble, these Christians,
no: they live peacefully.”
The Pope recalled how in the Gospels, there are
also examples of “people who do not know the doctrine, but have so much faith.” He
went on to mention the episode of the Canaanite woman, who, with her faith obtains
healing for her daughter, who was the victim of possession, and the Samaritan woman
who opens her heart because, he says, “she has not met with abstract truths,” but
“Jesus Christ.” Then there is the blind man healed by Jesus, who then faces interrogation
by the Pharisees and teachers of the law until he kneels with humility and adores
the one who healed him. Three people, said Pope Francis, who show how faith and witness
are inseparable:
“Faith is an encounter with Jesus Christ, with God, from which
faith is born, and from there it brings you to witness. That is what the Apostle means:
a faith without works , a faith that does not involve one’s [whole] self, that does
not lead to witness, is not faith. It is words – and nothing more than words.”