Jesus blesses Catholics to rise above disobeying “parts of The Law”.
~
Question 8: “What else does St. James tell us to do?
Answer: “Chapter 2 begins with his blessed advice! ‘My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people.’”
~
Question 9: “What ‘distinctions’ does St. James tell us to avoid?'”
Answer: “He tells us to respect poor people as much as rich people! ‘Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest’.’”
~
Question 10: “What do we tell God about ourself when we treat the rich better than we treat the poor?”
Answer: “We have become ‘corrupt judges’! ‘Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?’”
~
Question 11: “Why is it wrong to disrespect the poor?”
Answer: “St. James tell us in 2:5 how much more God loves the poor than the rich! ‘Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.’
Then, St. James makes it clearer! ‘In spite of this, you have no respect for anybody who is poor. Isn’t it always the rich who are against you? Isn’t it always their doing when you are dragged before the court?’ Catholics see that it is the “rich”, or those who want to be, who are always trying to take their assets for themselves.”
The Apostle is clear about the evils of the ‘rich’! ‘Aren’t they the ones who insult the honorable name to which you have been dedicated?’”
~
Question 12: “What does James tell us to do?”
Answer: “‘Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must love your neighbor as yourself; but as soon as you make distinctions between classes of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law.'”
~
Question 13: “How do we avoid being ‘condemned’ for breaking God’s Law?”
Answer: “James 2:10-11 tells us! ‘You see, if a man keeps the whole of the Law, except for one small point at which he fails, he is still guilty of breaking it all.
‘It was the same person who said, ‘You must not commit adultery’ and ‘You must not kill’. Now if you commit murder, you do not have to commit adultery as well to become a breaker of the Law.’”
Only Catholics are blessed to obey ‘the whole of The Law’ given to us by This Word of Jesus. We are in His Church, and get the only “keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” that He died to leave on earth:
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys of The Kingdom of Heaven.”
~
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Simple Reasons to be Catholic. https://catholicfundamentalism.com/
We can find interesting ideas about The Book of Revelation in this, and other free books: https://catholicfundamentalism.com/our-books/
If you like the no-cost downloads, please consider a donation to your Parish or favorite Catholic Charity. And, don’t forget to share: catholicfundamentalism.com
The best book in the last Century is “The Diary of St. Faustina”. It tells us how much Jesus loves our soul. https://www.saint-faustina.org/diary-full-text/
