Faith Without Works is Dead

St. James said:”...if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, 'Have a seat here, please,' while to the one who is poor you say, 'Stand there,' or 'Sit at my feet,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?...Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the Kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor... Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? ...judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy...” (James 2:2-7).

Those who are vying for the elimination of funding for programs that benefit the poorest and less fortunate among us (repealing health care reform, defunding Planned Parenthood, silencing NPR, slashing public education, even cutting assistance for homeless veterans), at the same time supporting tax cuts for corporations and the rich, are doing nothing but making the same distinctions mentioned in the passage above. And whoever supports this preposterous campaign is guilty of the same thing. You all might as well be dead, because “...just as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” (James 2:26) They may get away with it now, but in the end, Justice will prevail.