Our Venerable Father Spiridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Tremithus (337-61).
Nativity Fast.
Hebrews 10:35-11:7. Mark 9:10-16.
Read Hebrews 10:35-11:7
In today’s reading from the letter to the Hebrews, the author tells us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). He goes on to give examples of how Abel, Enoch, and Noah were approved by God because of their faith. Each of these men acted on faith and pleased God through their actions. Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother, Enoch was said to have pleased God which would not have been possible if he did not have faith, and Noah took heed of God’s warning and constructed an ark.
Faith is not stagnant. If we have faith, we take action. If we believe in something, it necessarily will affect the ways we think and behave. St. James wrote: “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (Jam. 2:14-17). The works we do cannot bring us salvation, but “by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). And if we have faith, then we do works. Let none of us have a “dead” faith but rather live our faith by taking actions which reflect what we believe as did Abel, Enoch, Noah, and countless others throughout history.