The second reading in our mass today reminds us of an age old debate the history of the church, of the relationship between faith and works; this was the debate that triggered the reformation. This debate exercised the mind of an Augustinian Monk Martin Luther in the 16^th Century. Martin Luther wanted to assure his salvation by doing all the good things a monk should do, but he found the harder he tried the lesser he was assured of his salvation. This gave rise to the famous line of Martin Luther: “If ever a monk was saved by monkishness I was that monk”. He was trying to do all the right things to save himself. In 1515 Martin Luther had a special experience – an intuition – when he was reading the letter of St. Paul to the Romans 1,17: “The just man shall live by faith alone”. This was a revelation for Luther. The key to salvation is not works but faith, the confidence of the sinner in God. Martin Luther came to the conclusion that salvation is achieved by confidence of the sinner in God, and this is where the Protestants use this adage: ‘Sola Fide’. As we know this intuition caught fire and gave rise to the reformation in the history of the church. While Marin Luther received his intuition while reading St. Paul and he read a lot of St. Paul, there are certain texts that disagree with Luther. One of these texts is the second reading – the letter of James – in our mass today: Good works are essential”, “If good works do not go with faith it is quite dead”. What good is it to have faith if you don’t practice it? There has been a lot of debate today about abuse and the cover up of abuse by our Church and our State; also this past week we have seen the results of the Scally report. People will often say – and they are right, it is easy to say sorry but we need to see actions, whose going to be held responsible, what recommendations are going to implemented. As we know this controversy – between Catholics and Protestants – has gone on for centuries in the history of Christianity.

1. We have to give importance to Luther’s intuition. God’s activity always comes first. We can’t bargain with God, we can’t compel God and we can’t change God. If we try to manipulate God we are on the wrong path. If I do this or that, will you give me this favour? No one can earn justification, salvation. God’s love comes first; God has loved us first and that why we speak a lot about the primacy of faith. The Protestants use this axiom “Sola Fide”, faith alone.
2. In the Catholic Church we add: Justification begins with faith but comes to fullness in love. If we use the analogy of the house, Faith is opening the door, and you have to open the door but love, living in the house, being part of Gods family is very important as well. So we as Catholics have the adage: ‘Fides caritate perfecta’. Faith is perfected by love. Martin Luther had great time for St. Paul but remember when St. Paul said: “I may have faith to move mountains but if I do not have love I have nothing”. Opening the door with faith is essential but living in the house, being part of God’s family is equally important.