Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we believe in you with all our being.
Let this faith never be a lifeless belief
in abstract truths outside ourselves,
but a deep personal commitment
to your Son Jesus Christ.
Give us the courage, we pray you,
to live for our brothers and sisters
and if need be to lose our life for them
and for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction

Today we have in the first reading one of the most important passages of James: faith demands commitment - or, as Jesus will say in the gospel, consistent discipleship. "Faith without works is a dead faith," a mere belief in theoretical tenets. Sometimes James is opposed to Paul - that was Luther's main difficulty - because Paul says we are saved by faith, not works. Both take "works" in a different sense. "Works" for Paul is the observance of the Jewish practices of the old Law, from which the Christian is liberated, but for the follower of Christ, says Paul, faith works through love, through adherence to Christ. So let our faith shine in works of love and service.

First Reading: Jas 2:14 –24, 26

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he
has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If
a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the
day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm,
and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the
body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have
works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have
works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I
will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe
that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and
tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without
works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works
when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith
was active along with his works, and faith was completed by
the works. Thus the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and
he was called the friend of God. See how a person is justified
by works and not by faith alone. For just as a body without a
spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 112:1–2, 3 – 4, 5 – 6

R/. Blessed the man who greatly delights
     in the Lord’s commands.

Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R/. Blessed the man who greatly delights
     in the Lord’s commands.

Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
R/. Blessed the man who greatly delights
     in the Lord’s commands.

Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just man shall be in everlasting remembrance.
R/. Blessed the man who greatly delights
     in the Lord’s commands.

Gospel Introduction

Being a disciple of Jesus implies journeying with Jesus on the way of the cross. Christians, followers of Christ, are people marked with the cross. We make the sign of the cross not merely symbolically when we pray but also in real life, whether we like it or not. We have to learn to accept the cross with Jesus.

Gospel Reading: Mk 8:34-9:1

Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, “If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it.

“What good is it to gain the whole world but destroy yourself? There is nothing you can give to recover your life. I tell you: If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the Glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

And he went on to say, “Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.”