In today’s reading from St. James, the author invites us to reflect on what lies within our hearts. Are we attentive to the ways that our passions and desires can control us and hurt others?
There is one commandment that 99.9% feel we have no risk of violating – the command not to kill. Yet, Jesus tells us that what this command requires is that we not hate our brother or sister because this hatred can lead us to violence against our brother or sister. In a similar way, the commandment not to commit adultery means more than not having a relationship with someone other than your spouse. It requires that your heart be singularly focused on your spouse so that there is no alienation of affection for your spouse in your heart through lustful desires. This is a particularly important clarification in the age of internet pornography. The point is to be attentive to the desires and passions of our hearts so that we can properly control them and direct them in a way that is healthy for us and does no harm to others.
This same point is made by the author of the letter of St. James in today’s second reading. The author is stressing that disordered passions create disorder. When our sexual desires become simply lust, we can harm others by using them as objects simply to satisfy the cravings of our passions. To harbor grievances and hate toward a brother or sister, fuels conflicts that can become violent in word or deed. When greed possesses our heart, we can become dishonest in our relationships with others persons, we can exploit other persons, and we can ignore our obligation to help those who are in need. When we are selfish, we place our desires before the needs of others and we have no empathy for other persons. How well do we control the passions and desires of our hearts?
May all of us open ourselves to the grace of conversion so that our hearts may not be controlled by passions and disordered desires but rather be controlled by the love of Christ.


Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J.