# Be doers of the word
*2015-12-10*

> Bill Young reflects on the call to live out the faith through action and honors the legacy of Blessed Adolph Kolping.

## Living the Word

Today is Thursday of the second week of Advent. We are continuing our reflections from the booklet 'Opening Our Hearts to God: Praying through Advent with Pope Francis.' Today's theme is 'Be Doers of the Word,' based on James 1:22: 'But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.'

## A Prayer for Courage

In our prayer today, we ask: 'O Jesus, give us greater courage in witnessing to our faith in you. Let us not be afraid of being Christians and living as Christians. Give us the courage to go and proclaim the good news, and to live and witness to our faith through prayer, works of charity, promoting justice, and doing good. Amen.'

## The Legacy of Blessed Adolph Kolping

Today is also the feast day of Blessed Adolph Kolping, who lived in Germany from 1813 to 1865. During the 19th century, many believed the Church was only for the wealthy and the business class, but Father Kolping proclaimed the opposite, focusing his ministry on the workers and laborers.

## Praying for the Laborer

We pray to Blessed Adolph Kolping today for all laborers—those who are working and those who are struggling to find work, both here in the U.S. and around the world. We ask for help for the poor, to feed the hungry, and to shelter the homeless. These are big tasks, but we know that with God, anything is possible. Amen.

*Faith is not just something we hear, but something we must courageously live out through charity and justice.*