Jas 5, 1-3 You have stored up treasure for the last days

James 5

(Jas 5, 1-3) You have stored up treasure for the last days
[1] Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. [2] Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, [3] your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days.

(CCC 2444) "The Church's love for the poor… is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor (CA 57; cf. Lk 6:20-22, Mt 8:20; Mk 12:41-44). Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need" (Eph 4:28). It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty (Cf. CA 57). (CCC 2445) Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you (Jas 5:1-6). (CCC 1867) The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel (Cf. Gen 4:10), the sin of the Sodomites (Cf. Gen 18:20; 19:13), the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt (Cf. Ex 3:7-10), the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan (Cf. Ex 20:20-22), injustice to the wage earner (Cf. Deut 24:14-15; Jas 5:4). (CCC 2463) How can we not recognize Lazarus, the hungry beggar in the parable (cf. Lk 17:19-31), in the multitude of human beings without bread, a roof or a place to stay? How can we fail to hear Jesus: "As you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me" (Mt 25:45)?

Jas 4, 17 Not to do the right thing one knows, it is a sin

(Jas 4, 17) Not to do the right thing one knows, it is a sin
[17] So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.

(CCC 1853) Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the commandments they violate. They can also be classed according to whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as sins in thought, word, deed, or omission. The root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free will, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man" (Mt 15:19-20). But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds.

Jas 4, 13-16 All boasting in your arrogance is evil

(Jas 4, 13-16) All boasting in your arrogance is evil

[13] Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit" – [14] you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. [15] Instead you should say, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that." [16] But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

(CCC 305) Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children's smallest needs: "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?"… Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well" (Mt 6:31-33; cf. 10:29-31). (CCC 2115) God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility. (CCC 2116) All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future (Cf. Deut 18:10; Jer 29:8). Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

Jas 4, 11b-12 Who then are you to judge your neighbor?

(Jas 4, 11b-12) Who then are you to judge your neighbor?

[11b] If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. [12] There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor?

(CCC 1961) God, our Creator and Redeemer, chose Israel for himself to be his people and revealed his Law to them, thus preparing for the coming of Christ. The Law of Moses expresses many truths naturally accessible to reason. These are stated and authenticated within the covenant of salvation. (CCC 1967) The Law of the Gospel "fulfills," refines, surpasses, and leads the Old Law to its perfection (Cf. Mt 5:17-19). In the Beatitudes, the New Law fulfills the divine promises by elevating and orienting them toward the "kingdom of heaven." It is addressed to those open to accepting this new hope with faith - the poor, the humble, the afflicted, the pure of heart, those persecuted on account of Christ - and so marks out the surprising ways of the Kingdom.(CCC 1968) The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law. The Lord's Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing the moral prescriptions of the Old Law, releases their hidden potential and has new demands arise from them: it reveals their entire divine and human truth. It does not add new external precepts, but proceeds to reform the heart, the root of human acts, where man chooses between the pure and the impure (Cf. Mt 15:18-19), where faith, hope, and charity are formed and with them the other virtues. The Gospel thus brings the Law to its fullness through imitation of the perfection of the heavenly Father, through forgiveness of enemies and prayer for persecutors, in emulation of the divine generosity (Cf. Mt 5:44,48).

Jas 4, 11a Do not speak evil of one another

(Jas 4, 11a) Do not speak evil of one another
[11a] Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law.

(CCC 2478) To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way: Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 22).

Jas 4, 6-10 Submit yourselves to God

(Jas 4, 6-10) Submit yourselves to God
[6] But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." [7] So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds. [9] Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

(CCC 1784) The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.

Jas 4, 5 The spirit that dwells in us tends toward jealousy

(Jas 4, 5) The spirit that dwells in us tends toward jealousy
[5] Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning when it says, "The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy"?

(CCC 2737) "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (Jas 4:3; cf. The whole context: Jas 4:1-10; 1:5-8; 5:16). If we ask with a divided heart, we are "adulterers" (Jas 4:4); God cannot answer us, for he desires our well-being, our life. "Or do you suppose that it is in vain that the scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us?'" (Jas 4:5). That our God is "jealous" for us is the sign of how true his love is. If we enter into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard. Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask him; for he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer (Evagrius Ponticus, De oratione 34: PG 79, 1173). God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give (St. Augustine, Ep. 130, 8, 17: PL 33, 500).