The misfortunes of the rich
1 So, now for what concerns the rich! Cry and weep for the misfortunes that are coming upon you.
2 Your riches are rotting and your clothes eaten up by the moths.
3 Your silver and gold have rusted and their rust grows into a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire, for having piled up rich es in these the last days.
4 You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers’ complaints have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You lived in luxury and pleasure in this world thus fattening yourselves for the day of slaughter.
6 You have easily condemned and killed the innocent since they offered no resistance.
Look forward to the Lord’s coming
7 Be patient then, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. See how the sower waits for the precious fruits of the earth, looking forward patiently to the autumn and spring rains.
8 You also be patient and do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming is near.
9 Beloved, do not fight among yourselves and you will not be judged. See, the judge is already at the door.
10 Take for yourselves, as an example of patience, the suffering of the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name.
11 See how those who were patient are called blessed. You have heard of the patience of Job and know how the Lord dealt with him in the end. For the Lord is merciful and shows compassion.
12 Above all, my beloved, do not swear either by heaven or by earth, or make a habit of swearing. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, lest you become liable for judgment.
The sick
13 Are any among you discouraged? They should pray. Are any of you happy? They should sing songs to God.
14 If any one is sick, let him call on the elders of the Church. They shall pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 The prayer said in faith will save the sick person; the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
16 here will be healing if you confess your sins to one another and pray for each other. The prayer of the upright man has great power, provided he perseveres.
17 Eli jah was a human being like ourselves and when he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, no rain fell for three and a half years.
18 Then he prayed again: the sky yielded rain and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brothers, if any one of you strays far away from the truth and another person brings him back to it,
20 be sure of this: he who brings back a sinner from the wrong way will save his soul from death and win forgiveness for many sins.
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Comments Letter to James, Chapter 5
• 5.1 The rich will lose all they have stockpiled through injustice. Just as serious as having stolen from the salaries of workers and having condemned those who spoke of justice is the sin against hope. “The last days already came and you were looking for riches!” The last days are those that began with the coming of Christ, with the kingdom already there. James sees the second coming of the Lord as if it was imminent and it is the only way to rightly judge riches.
What was taking place in the poor civilization of James’ time is happening again today. The prosperity of a quarter of the world depends on the system that leaves two billion people in misery.
In our countries money destroys hope in the Christian meaning of the word; life is considered as a fortune to be enjoyed by oneself, without accepting responsibilities, beginning with the transmission of life. Far removed from us, the safeguarding of our privileges involves, like a series of cascades, the unjust death of millions of people because of famine, oppression and wars.
• 13. We know, through James’ words, that the Church continued – and must continue today – Christ’s ministry to the sick. Salvation includes both physical and spiritual health. The Gospel shows us that the latter is the most important and God always grants it, although he does not always restore physical health.
In the Gospel, Jesus lays his hands on the sick and when he sends his missionaries, he asks them to lay their hands on the sick or to anoint them with oil (Mk 6:13 and 16:18). The laying on of hands is like communicating to another person the power that will heal him, in the name of Christ and with his authority. As to oil, it was used in those days as a remedy. The two signs – anointing and laying of hands – accompany prayer.
The elders are those in charge of Christian communities. They were lay people but had been charged with the direction of the community, the celebration of baptism, presiding at the Eucharist. They must visit the sick and animate the community prayer for them, requesting God to cure them. At the same time they must invite the sick to recognize their sins, and prepare them to receive the grace of God.
When the Church speaks of the sacrament of the sick, it refers only to the anointing with oil done by someone who has officially received the power for this sacrament (up to now, only priests can administer this sacrament). This in no way excludes leaders of the Christian communities from praying, from anointing, and laying hands on the sick. When they do this with faith in the name of the Church, there is an increase in God’s intervention in healing the sick, thus preparing them for conversion.
It has been a great error in past days to reserve the anointing of the sick to the dying and to call it extreme unction. It is also a serious error to wait until the sick person is unconscious in order not to frighten him into thinking that death may be near.
See the commentary on Luke 10:9.
• 16. Jesus said to Peter: “What you forgive on earth will be forgiven in heaven” (Mt 16:19). He said the same thing to the apostles, “What you forgive on earth…” (Jn 20:23). He says the same to the Church (Mt 18:18). It is the task of pastors of the Church to decide on the reconciliation of sinners with the community – and with God. Yet, in many cases, we have more need for the forgiveness of one or several persons whom we have offended, and we must ask for it with simplicity: the forgiveness of a brother or sister in the faith will be the forgiveness of God.
Likewise, it is good to confess our faults to those who are able to understand us. The trust of the one and the mercy of the other: nothing more is needed for God to be in the middle.