“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.” 
(St. Francis of Assisi)

Whenever I’ve taught religion to children, be it in school, at a religious education class, and sometimes even at church-related extracurricular activities, the idea of our words and actions being companions always comes about in conversation. It seems like a simple concept, but the reality is that very few get these two pieces to match most of the time. With the election soon, I can’t help but be reminded of how rarely humans do this. Often we are trying to appease someone with lip service so they get off our backs, or maybe trying to get what we want, and sometimes even telling people what they want to hear so they’ll “like” us. 

However, the Church has always talked about the idea of words and deeds. The Bible has many stories where we’re told that the words matter not if the action behind them ceases to exist. Let’s take these examples. 

• “Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3:18)
• “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
• “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16)
• “I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life. The dead were judged according to their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls.” (Revelations 20:12)

If we read all these examples, we will notice that our words will not be judged in the way that our deeds will, but both must be done for the glory of God and the perpetuation of Christ’s mission, in which we all share a part. In the present day, the same holds true. We are still called to be the light in a world of darkness and sin. We are to be as close to Christ as we can get. Haven’t we all met someone, or many ones, who do not do as their words would suggest? How about the politician who tells us they are the only candidate with our well-being in mind, while they are only worried about getting your vote so they can do what they originally intended once in office? Consider the child that says they cleaned up their room to get what they wanted, only for the parent to find that they did not? Maybe think of that person who tells you they are a good Catholic, but they do not go to Mass and do not believe in the precepts of our faith? On the surface we see it as lying, but it truly is an issue of words and deeds not matching up, not showing the world that they are a true Christian. 

We need our words and actions, or deeds, to compliment each other. It is the greatest form of evangelization, which is why the above quote from St. Francis of Assisi is spot on. Imagine that we are the only way someone personally came into contact with Jesus. If our actions and words run concurrent, we will be living the life Christ wants us to live. Our deeds are visible and much more tangible to people than words, and so they often hold much more weight in our lives. Words can be disputed but actions cannot. 

Our faith is what, then, will come to the forefront if we follow this idea of words and actions. We are all inherently good, but we must make it that our lips and bodies show the goodness, and then people will see that we truly are Christians. A great example is from the Letter of James. As a whole, it is more of an exhortation than a letter and it seems to focus, mostly, on sound teaching and responsible moral behavior. In its second chapter, the author discusses the idea of faith and good works. 

“So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 
Indeed someone may say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’
Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate
my faith to you from my works…Was not Abraham our father justified by
works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was
active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.
Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called
‘the friend of God.’ See how a person is justified by works and
not by faith alone…For just as a body without a spirit is dead,
so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17,18, 21-24, 26)

Faith is shown through our words and actions. Evangelization is our outward expression of our faith by word and deed. This is not saying that we can buy our way into eternal life because of good deeds only. There needs to be more behind it. We stand up every Sunday and publicly proclaim the Nicene Creed, but do we believe it and act upon it? Our staying accountable and honest, ensuring our words and deeds match is crucial to our spiritual journey on earth.