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Week 2

Double-Minded or Fully Joyful

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.

James 1:2–8

Sin, while always connected to pride, is also a product of doubt. So often as Catholic men, we find ourselves facing trials and folding under pressure in our efforts to persevere. We find it difficult to consider it a joy that our faith is being tested. We hate weakness and failure, and trials bring us both. In the end, it is doubt that can cause us to stumble. When we are double-minded, unsure of our motives and our methods, unstable in all we say and do, we fall short of God’s call to be men of action who build the kingdom on the sturdy foundation of Jesus Christ. When we doubt that God will supply the wisdom and the strength for us to see our trials through, we allow the enemy of our souls and this broken world to toss us about, leaving us floundering in our faith.

Saint James has the prescription for our doubting, double-minded, unstable ways. The whole first chapter of his letter offers the answers to finding the full measure of joy in the midst of trials:

1. We will boast in our lowly yet high standing.

James reminds us that a lowly man can “boast in his exultation” (Jas 1:9), because his source of strength comes from God alone. Accepting our lowliness helps to change our perspective and guides our actions. We recognize our need for God and become open to the transforming power of the trials of life that reshape us to serve the One who is our source of strength.

2. We must avoid the birth of sin.

James describes the power of temptation, which leads to the birth of sin if we give in to our own desires. Moreover, “sin when it is full-grown brings forth death” (v. 15). Temptation is the work of the world, the flesh, and the devil, not God. God gives us the power to persevere, not to fall, to discover our worth and purpose as we strive to avoid sin and to love as God has loved us.

3. We must not allow the sea of our troubles to toss us about.

We cannot receive God’s wisdom and blessing if we are too busy being blown back and forth by our doubt (cf. v. 6). We must ask God to supply us with the assurance and understanding we need to navigate our struggles in faith so that we will be strong and steady men of action who build the kingdom by all we say and do.

4. We need to be men who act on the word we hear.

James compares those who hear the word and do nothing about it to a man looking at his reflection and then forgetting what he looks like (cf. v. 22–24). Faith without works is dead (cf. Jas 2:17). Acting on God’s promises shows trust and fulfills the call to live out our faith through acts of charity.

5. We can look deeply into God’s perfect law and be set free to love.

We need to focus all our spiritual attention on the depth of God’s abiding love. As we gaze into the perfect Law of Love that sets us free, we find the strength to say no to sin and yes to all that God calls us to do for our world. We can grow stronger every day and become a blessing to others, sharing that perfect love that has so transformed us.

This Week’s Call to Action

This week let love, service, and purity mark you as a joyful doer of the word. Accept that while trials are never pleasant, there is joy in trusting that God uses them to mold us into men who will not fold under pressure. Double-minded men make poor witnesses. When we accept our lowly position in God’s plan and allow his wisdom to fuel our faith, we can become men of action who share our faith through our words and our deeds graced with the power of our Savior’s perfect love.

See your struggles as a rigorous spiritual workout, letting God build your spiritual muscles as he shapes you into a man after his own heart. With each day that unfolds, accept the testing of your faith, knowing that God is making you stronger, destroying doubt, and teaching you how to love others and live with integrity. Remember that in Christ, believers become wise servants who stand strong against the waves of indecision and doubt. If we hold fast to faith, we can carry out his will with passion and power and a joy that is inexpressible.

Sunday

This week you will consider what it means to become singularly focused on the love of God as revealed in Jesus on the cross. You will work to avoid or overcome the birth of sin in your life. You will cast aside doubt and indecision and walk above the waves of adversity to rest on the shore of God’s rock-solid care for you. You will strive to become a doer of the word and to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. You will be challenged to look boldly into the perfect Law of Love to discover the freedom to become the man God has made you to be. You will learn what it means to move from this stable place of faith and out into the world, where lost and hurting individuals are looking for that same love in their lives.

This Sunday, as you join in the celebration of the Eucharist, consider how God has lifted the veil and allowed you to enter into his heavenly realm. Meditate on the ways God has opened your eyes through the Church and her teachings. Think about your place in the Body of Christ, and reflect on God’s call to be single-minded in your faith as you reach out to a weary world. As you receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, ask him to increase your faith and to set you free from any doubts that hold you back from living fully for him.

Dialogue with Jesus about his call in your life. Thank him for all he has done to bring you through your trials and strengthen you for your mission as a Catholic man.

Questions for Reflection

How can you develop a deeper trust in God so that his wisdom can give you stability and focus to carry out his will in your life?

Are there areas in your life where you are still double-minded, trying to walk in God’s plan but conflicted by doubt? How can you surrender those areas to God this week?

What are some practical steps you can take this week to share the incredible reality of God’s love with others?

Praying with Scripture

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23).

Monday

We Will Boast in Our Lowly yet High Standing

The Lord kills and brings to life;

he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich;

he brings low, he also exalts.

He raises up the poor from the dust;

he lifts the needy from the dung heap,

to make them sit with princes

and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,

and on them he has set the world.

1 Samuel 2:6–8

The great paradox of the Christian life is that we achieve greatness in lowliness. To the worldly man, this is an insane contradiction. After all, why would anyone want to be lowly? But to Catholic men, this should be sensible and sound, because in Christ we are able to see with heaven’s eyes. We understand that compared with God, all our efforts and our worth are filthy rags (cf. Is 64:6). The Good News, however, is that God takes our lowliness and raises it up. By his grace we are strengthened to live according to a higher calling. Our trials and our stumbling along the road of life allow God to refashion us in humility so we understand our true place in the universe. Though we are worth nothing, powerless and prideful, God lifts us from the dirt of this world and sets us up as princes among men.

We have become a new creation in Christ, and this shows us our purpose and our worth in God’s eyes. He sees us through the saving work of Jesus on the cross. We become beautiful, worthy sons, who are called to rule our worlds with the same perfect love he has revealed to us. We recognize that every moment we experience — even our lowest — has a divine purpose in testing and shaping our souls. When we accept our trials and our lowliness, we become servants with hearts totally dedicated to the cause of Christ.

Questions for Reflection

Is it difficult for you to accept that only in lowliness you can become exalted? If so, why?

Where have you been striving to achieve greatness on your own merits?

How has God lifted you up in your lowliness? How has his saving work in your life given you a greater sense of your calling as a Catholic man?

Praying with Scripture

“He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety” (Jb 5:11).

Tuesday

We Must Avoid the Birth of Sin

You meet him that joyfully works righteousness,

those that remember you in your ways.

Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

in our sins we have been a long time, and shall

we be saved?

We have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

There is no one that calls upon your name,

that bestirs himself to take hold of you.

Isaiah 64:5–7

Sin is a slippery slope that leads into a pit of destruction. It is a choice we make each and every time. It is not a work of God but part of our fallen nature. Once our desire surrenders to evil, we give birth to sin our lives, and if we allow it to linger, it will destroy us.

Proverbs 7 speaks of the seduction of a senseless and foolish man by an adulterous woman. The passage goes into great detail about the man’s steady journey into sin. He makes his way secretly to her house, hears her seductive words, is enticed by what his senses take in, and then gives in to the sin of adultery. He is compared to an animal stepping into a snare and being captured, never to recover. This describes how sin works in our lives. It presents itself as a pleasurable experience, slowly drawing us into the trap it sets for us. We think it is something good, yet if we give ourselves over to it, ultimately it destroys our lives until our bodies, our minds, and our souls are left in utter turmoil.

We must remember that the temptation to sin does not come from God (cf. Jas 1:13), but from the world, the flesh, or the devil. When we give in to temptation, we have only our weak, sinful nature to blame. Yet when we repent, God takes the pain and devastation of sin and, through grace, transforms us and helps us persevere to the end. Let us remember that we are fallen men, incapable of accomplishing anything good outside of Christ. And let us thank God that in Christ we are set free to overcome sin and become men of integrity and purpose once more.

Questions for Reflection

What are some of your biggest struggles with temptation?

Do you ever blame God when you fall into sin? Why? What do you need to do to accept your own blame and surrender yourself to God’s mercy?

How has God used the graces of the Sacrament of Confession to transform you?

How have your brothers in the Faith helped you to let go of sin and rely on grace?

Praying with Scripture

“Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:3).

Wednesday

We Must Not Allow the Sea of Our Troubles to Toss Us About

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Matthew 8:24–28

It can be tempting to believe that we can be good Christians without the Church. Especially in our society today, many men believe they can pray on their own, worship in their own way, and guide their own lives. They see the Church as unnecessary or even burdensome. But the truth is, without the Church we don’t really have Christ in our lives, because the Church is his Body.

More than that, we need the Church to guide us, the ministry of her leaders to train us in the Faith, and the fellowship of her members to uplift and support us. The inevitable result of isolated Christianity is double-mindedness, hypocrisy, and vulnerability to falsehood and personal sin. Only in the Church can we reach out fully to Christ when waves of doubt and indecision threaten to overwhelm us.

Doubt can often do more damage than pride. It can keep us inactive in our faith or move us in directions contrary to God’s will for our lives. As we are tossed back and forth by our fear and indecision, focused on the size of the storms we experience, we lose sight of the light of God’s grace, which guides us to the safe shore of his love. God will give generously to those who come to him looking for the stability he offers in Christ. As we live out the Lord’s command to love, we grow into rock-solid men able to bring change to our world.

Questions for Reflection