{"id":14074,"date":"2024-07-05T20:05:51","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T00:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/?p=14074"},"modified":"2024-07-05T10:48:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T14:48:32","slug":"daily-devotional-for-july-7-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/?p=14074","title":{"rendered":"Daily Devotional for July 7 – 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday<\/p>\n

James 1:\u00a0<\/span> 25\u00a0<\/sup>But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it,<\/i> and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.<\/span><\/p>\n

26\u00a0<\/sup>If anyone [e<\/a>]<\/sup>among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one\u2019s religion is<\/i> useless. <\/span> 27\u00a0<\/sup>Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and<\/i> to keep oneself unspotted from the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 O Lord, deprive me not of Thy heavenly good things.<\/p>\n

Commentary this week from the Catholic Haydock Bible…<\/p>\n

If any man think,<\/em>\u00a0&c. He here blames those hot disputes, which seem to have been frequent amongst the converted Jews, concerning the necessity of observing the legal rites. In vain, says he, do you pique yourselves upon the rigorous observance of the law, and your zeal to unite its ceremonial rites with the practice of the gospel. If you be void of the essence of Christianity, which is charity, prudence, and moderation, your religion will avail you nothing. (Calmet)<\/p>\n

A man must not imagine\u00a0himself to be religious,<\/em>\u00a0and perfect in the way of virtue, unless he governs and bridles\u00a0his tongue<\/em>\u00a0from oaths, curses, calumnies, detractions, lies, of which more in the third chapter. (Witham)<\/p>\n

Ver. 27.<\/strong>\u00a0Religion pure and unspotted,<\/em>\u00a0&c. St. James may use the word\u00a0pure,<\/em>\u00a0as a proper admonition to the Jews, who were generally mostly solicitous to avoid\u00a0legal<\/em>\u00a0uncleanness, such as were incurred by eating meats forbidden in their law as unclean, by touching a dead body, &c. He therefore tells them that the Christian religion is known by acts of charity, by visiting and assisting widows, the fatherless, and such as are under afflictions, and in general by keeping our consciences interiorly clean, unspotted, and\u00a0undefiled from this world,<\/em>\u00a0from the corrupt maxims and sinful practices so common in this wicked world. (Witham)<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/p>\n

O Lord, deliver me from the eternal torments.\u00a0 (St John Chrysostom hourly prayers)<\/p>\n

Monday<\/p>\n

James 2:1\u00a0My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord<\/i> of glory, with partiality. <\/span> 2\u00a0<\/sup>For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in [a<\/a>]<\/sup>fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in [b<\/a>]<\/sup>filthy clothes, <\/span> 3\u00a0<\/sup>and you [c<\/a>]<\/sup>pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, \u201cYou sit here in a good place,\u201d and say to the poor man, \u201cYou stand there,\u201d or, \u201cSit here at my footstool,\u201d <\/span> 4\u00a0<\/sup>have you not [d<\/a>]<\/sup>shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?<\/span><\/p>\n

Commentary:\u00a0 The meaning is, that in matters relating to faith, the administering of the sacraments and other spiritual functions in God\u2019s Church, there should be no\u00a0respect of persons:<\/em>\u00a0but that the souls of the poor should be as much regarded as those of the rich. ([Deuteronomy?] Chap. i. 17) (Challoner)<\/p>\n

…you have less reason to shew such distinguishing marks of honour and esteem for the rich of this world, since it is they who by might and violence oppress you, draw you to judgment-seats: and they are less worthy of your honour and esteem, when by their scandalous behaviour they blaspheme, or cause to be blasphemed and ill-spoken of, the good and holy name of God, which is invoked upon you. (Witham)<\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 O Lord, if I have sinned in mind or thought, in word or deed, forgive me.<\/p>\n

O Lord, deliver me from all ignorance, forgetfulness, faint-heartedness, and stony insensibility.<\/p>\n

Tuesday<\/p>\n

James 2: 5\u00a0Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be<\/i> rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? <\/span> 6\u00a0<\/sup>But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? <\/span> 7\u00a0<\/sup>Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?<\/span><\/p>\n

8\u00a0<\/sup>If you really fulfill the<\/i> royal law according to the Scripture, \u201cYou shall love your neighbor as yourself,\u201d<\/span> you do well; <\/span> 9\u00a0<\/sup>but if you [e<\/a>]<\/sup>show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commentary:<\/p>\n

By these words, the apostle explains what he had said before of the particular respect paid to rich and powerful men, that if these were no more than some exterior marks paid them without any injustice or interior contempt of such as were poor, so that they took care to comply with that royal precept given to every one by Almighty God, the King of kings,\u00a0thou shalt love thy neighbour,<\/em>\u00a0that is, every one without exception,\u00a0as thyself;<\/em>\u00a0in this\u00a0you do well;<\/em>\u00a0and the respect of persons was less blameable. (Witham)<\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 O Lord, deliver me from every temptation.<\/p>\n

O Lord, enlighten my heart which evil desire hath darkened.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wednesday<\/p>\n

James 2: 10\u00a0\u00a0For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point,<\/i> he is guilty of all. <\/span> 11\u00a0<\/sup>For He who said, \u201cDo not commit adultery,\u201d<\/span> also said, \u201cDo not murder.\u201d<\/span> Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. <\/span> 12\u00a0<\/sup>So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. <\/span> 13\u00a0<\/sup>For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commentary:\u00a0St. Augustine observes, that all sins are not equal, as the Stoic philosophers pretended. See St. Augustine, Epist. clxvii, (nov. ed. tom. 2, p. 595) where he consults St. Jerome on this very place out of St. James, and tells us that such a man may be said to\u00a0be guilty of all,<\/em>\u00a0because by one deadly sin he acts against charity,[3] (which is the love of God and of our neighbour) upon which depends the whole law and all its precepts; so that by breaking one precept, he loseth the habit of charity, and maketh the keeping, or not breaking of all the rest, unprofitable to him. Secondly, it may be added, that all the precepts of the law are to be considered as one total and entire law, and as it were a chain of precepts, where by breaking one link of this chain the whole chain is broken, or the integrity of the law, consisting of a collection of precepts. Thirdly, it may be said, that he who breaks any one precept, contemns the authority of the lawgiver, who enjoined them all, and under pain of being for ever excluded from his sight and enjoyment. A sinner, therefore, by a grievous offence against any one precept, forfeits his heavenly inheritance, becomes liable to eternal punishments, as if he had transgressed all the rest: not but that the punishments in hell shall be greater against those who have been greater sinners, as greater shall be the reward in heaven for those who have lived with greater sanctity and perfection. (Witham)<\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 O Lord, as a man I have sinned, but do Thou, as the compassionate God, have mercy on me, seeing the infirmity of my soul.<\/p>\n

O Lord, send Thy grace to my help, that I may glorify Thy holy name.<\/p>\n

Thursday
\nCommentary on James 2:13…For judgment without mercy,<\/em>\u00a0&c. It is an admonition to them to fulfil, as he said before, the royal precepts of the love of God and of our neighbour, which cannot be without being merciful to others.\u00a0Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.<\/em>\u00a0(Matthew v. 7.) \u2014\u00a0And mercy exalteth<\/em>\u00a0itself\u00a0above judgment.<\/em>\u00a0Some understand this as a confirmation of God\u2019s infinite mercies, out of Psalm cxliv. 9. where it is said that his \u201cmercies are over all his works;\u201d that is, though all his perfections be equally infinite, yet he is pleased to deal with sinners rather according to the multitude of his mercies than according to the rigour of his justice. Others expound these words of the mercy which men shew to one another, and that he exhorts them to mercy, as a most powerful means to find mercy; and the merciful works done to others will be beneficial to them, and make them escape when they come to judgment. (Witham) \u2014 Similar to this are the words of old Tobias to his son: \u201cAlms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it.\u201d (Tobias iv. 11, 12.) \u201cBlessed are the merciful,\u201d says our divine Judge, \u201cfor they shall obtain mercy.\u201d (Matthew v. 7.) (Calmet) \u2014 And the definitive sentence of Christians, at the day of judgment will be favourable or not, as they have complied in life with the calls of charity. [Matthew xxv. 31-46.]<\/p>\n

Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, write me Thy servant in the Book of Life, and grant me a good end.<\/p>\n

O Lord my God, even though I have done nothing good in Thy sight, yet grant me by Thy grace to make a good beginning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday<\/p>\n

James 2:\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>What does it<\/i> profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? <\/span> 15\u00a0<\/sup>If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, <\/span> 16\u00a0<\/sup>and one of you says to them, \u201cDepart in peace, be warmed and filled,\u201d but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it<\/i> profit? <\/span> 17\u00a0<\/sup>Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commentary:<\/p>\n

Shall faith be able to save him?<\/em>\u00a0He now comes to one of the chief points of this epistle, to shew against the disciple of Simon , the magician, that faith alone will not save any one. We may take notice in the first place, that St. James in this very verse, supposes that a man may have faith, a true faith without good works. This also follows from ver. 19., where he says:\u00a0Thou believest that there is one God: thou dost well.<\/em>\u00a0And the same is evident by the words in John xii. 42., where it is said,\u00a0that many of the chief men also believed in him,<\/em>\u00a0(Christ)\u2026.but did not confess<\/em>\u00a0it,\u00a0that they might not be cast out of the synagogue.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0O Lord, sprinkle into my heart the dew of Thy grace.<\/p>\n

O Lord of heaven and earth, remember me Thy sinful servant, shameful and unclean, in Thy kingdom. Amen.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/p>\n

Commentary continued\u00a0 on faith without works…\u00a0Now that faith alone is not sufficient to save a man, St. James declares by this example: If any one say to the\u00a0poor<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0naked, go in peace, be you warmed and filled,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0give<\/em>\u00a0them nothing, what\u00a0shall it profit? Even so faith, if it have not works is dead,<\/em>\u00a0&c. i.e. such a faith, though it be not lost and destroyed, yet it remains in a soul that is spiritually dead, when it is not accompanied with charity and grace, which is the life of the soul, and without which faith can never bring us to eternal life. In this sense is to be understood the 20th and 26th verses of this chapter, when faith is again said to be dead without good works. This is also the doctrine of St. Paul, when he tells us that a saving faith is a faith\u00a0that worketh by charity,<\/em>\u00a0Galatians v. 6. When he says, that although faith were strong enough to remove mountains, a man is nothing without charity. (1 Corinthians xiii. 2.) When he teacheth us again, that\u00a0not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.<\/em>\u00a0[Romans ii. 13.] St. John teacheth the same (1 John iii. 14.)\u00a0He that loveth not, remaineth in death.<\/em>\u00a0But of this elsewhere. (Witham)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some who say, \u2018My works indeed are not as they ought to be,\u2019 but my faith is firm, my salvation is therefore out of danger. This opinion, which has sprung up in this our unhappy age, and recommends itself under the name of reformed [Protestant ‘saved’] 6 doctrine, ought to be opposed by every lover of piety, and all who wish well to their neighbour\u2019s salvation\u2026.no faith has ever availed any man, unless it were accompanied by such works as he had time and opportunity to perform.\u201d His words are: \u201cOpera quidem mea non recta sunt, sed fides recta est, ac propterea de salute non periclitor\u2026.Renata est hoc infelici s\u0119culo ea sententia et quidem sub nomine repurgat\u0119 doctrin\u0119, cui omnes qui pietatem et salutem proximi amant, se debent opponere\u2026.c\u0153terum nulla cuiquam fides profuit, sine tali opere, quale tempus permittebat,\u201d &c. In vain do we glory in our faith, unless our lives and works bear testimony of the same. Faith without charity is dead, and charity cannot exist without good works. He who bears the fruits of Christian piety, shews that he has the root, which is faith; but the root is dead, when it affords no produce. Works are to faith what the soul is to the body. See the remainder of this chapter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 O Lord, accept me in penitence.<\/p>\n

O Lord, forsake me not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday James 1:\u00a0 25\u00a0But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-orthodox-daily-devotional","has_no_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14075,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14074\/revisions\/14075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}