God reveals that both intrinsically shed light on one another
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
God’s revelation comes to us in words and deeds — not just one or the other.
Similarly, faith — our response to God — needs to be a matter of words and deeds, too.
Revelation
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: “The divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other and shed light on each other” (CCC 53).
This week’s Gospel readings walk us through one of the places where Jesus very deliberately turns from words to deeds. For three chapters (Matthew 5-7), the Sermon on the Mount gives us the words of Jesus. But immediately after He comes down from the mountain, we have three more chapters (Matthew 8-10) in which Jesus backs up His words with deeds.
The entire history of Israel shows this pattern as well. God makes promises to Abraham, and then history shows how they come true. God sends Moses to Pharaoh with both words and deeds. God sends the prophets with a message for Israel and deeds to show the message is from Him. The start of the Acts of the Apostles — which we read this week for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29) — tells us the history of the early Church. And, no surprise, it tells us the words and the deeds of the apostles.
Words and deeds go together even on a human level! But God’s revelation is a perfect example of words and deeds that are “intrinsically bound up with each other and shed light on each other.”
Faith
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, right before He Himself turns from words to deeds, Jesus warns us that our faith needs to be expressed in words and deeds, too: “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven…everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.”
St. Gregory of Nyssa applies that lesson to Christian life when he says, “The life of the Christian has three distinguishing aspects: deeds, words, and thought…we must make sure that all our thoughts, words and deeds are controlled by the divine ideal, the revelation of Christ. Each of us must examine his thoughts, words and deeds, to see whether they are directed toward Christ or away from him.”
As we prepare for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to pass through the Archdiocese of St. Louis on July 5-7, perhaps we might examine our consciences along these lines: Have my thoughts, words and deeds been directed toward and consistent with the life of Christ? What are the areas where I need to repent and ask for help?
We are never simply worthy to receive Christ in the Eucharist. But let’s prepare to receive Him more and more worthily. Like God’s revelation, may our faith be characterized by “deeds and words that are intrinsically bound up with each other and shed light on each other.”