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 Our Wrist Band is  “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only”

– Reflection on James 1:22-25 Below:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only: We must receive God’s word as doers, not merely hearers. To take comfort in the fact you have heard God’s word when you haven’t done it is to deceive yourself.

It was common in the ancient world for people to hear a teacher. If you followed the teacher and tried to live what he said, you were called a disciple of that teacher. We may say that Jesus is looking for disciples: doers, not mere hearers. Jesus used this same point to conclude His great Sermon on the Mount. He said that the one who heard the word without doing it was like a man who built his house on the sand, but the one who heard God’s word and did it was like a man whose house was built on a rock. The one who both heard and did God’s word could withstand the inevitable storms of life and the judgment of eternity (Matthew 7:24-27).

A teacher or homilist may give an eloquent address on the gospel, or explain ably some O.T. prophecy about Christ, but when the sermon is done, it is not done; something remains to be done by the hearers in life, and if they content themselves with sentimental admiration or with enjoying the emotional or mental treat, they need not imagine that this is religion.

The letter of James contains much that strikes and unsettles the Christian believer. As it must have been for the community James was addressing, it remains so today.

James challenges us to put words into action, then offers a curious metaphor. From there we are affirmed with that word “freedom,” and perhaps knowing that living the Christian life is truly in our hands, we encounter a beatitude for those who “do” the word we hear.

The comfort of the verse is that James encourages us to be the Catholic men we are, gifted by God to be the people He wants us to be; and to fulfill this gift we must indeed put His Word into Action!.  Thus, “Be Doers of the Word and not hearers only.”