St. James, Apostle,
2 Cor 4:7-15 /
Matthew 20:20-28
We are special: He who raised Jesus will raise us.
Eighty-year-old
John Quincy Adams was shuffling along outside his home one day. A neighbor
greeted him, saying, “How’s Mr. John Quincy Adams this morning?” The
eighty-year-old replied: “John Quincy Adams himself is very well, thank you. But
the house he lives in is sadly dilapidated. It is tottering on its foundations.
The walls are badly shattered, and the roof is worn. The building trembles with
every wind, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it before
long. But he himself is very well.”
Each of us
carries a treasure in our bodies. God made us to be something special.
****
Do we look
upon ourselves as special? “The attitude toward death is changing.... No longer
is it something to be feared, but rather a giving of ourselves to God. It is a
total self-gift of ourselves united with Christ.” Clifford Howell
****
During His life on earth, Jesus singled out three apostles
out of the twelve apostles to be with Him in the special and unique moments of
His ministry.They were Peter, John and James, whose feast day we
celebrate today. They were with Jesus in His healing ministry as well as at
the Transfiguration.
Although James had the privilege of being in the inner
circle of the apostles, he did not quite understand the mission and purpose of
Jesus. As we heard in the gospel, he and his brother John had ideas
about getting special positions in the earthly kingdom that they thought Jesus
was going to establish. But for all his misconceptions, James wanted to be with
Jesus.
He had found the one whom he wanted to follow, even though
he had yet to understand fully that his Master came to serve and to eventually
give His life as a ransom for many. Nonetheless, in the end, St. James would be the first among
the apostles to give up his life in witness to his Master. So even though St. James was in the inner circle of the
apostles, he was an earthenware jar that holds the privilege of being chosen by
Jesus.
The 1st reading reminds us that like St. James, we are also
earthenware jars holding the treasures of God. Like St. James, let us pour out these treasures in love and
service to God and neighbour. We can only inherit the kingdom of God when we give up our
lives for others.
****
There is a popular pilgrimage in Europe that is known as the
Compostela.It is a traditional pilgrimage to the grave of St. James and
it is known as the "Way of St. James". According to legend, the remains of St. James are held in
Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (Spain), and St. James is also the patron
saint of Spain. And according to the local tradition, St. James went as far
as Spain to preach the gospel, and there he had a vision of the Blessed Virgin
Mary and then he returned to Judea where shortly after he was beheaded by King
Herod Agrippa in the start of the persecution of the Church.
Hence he was the first of the apostles to be martyred and
the first of the apostles to offer his life in witnessing to Christ. Yes, St. James drank the cup that his Master drank and like
his Master, he also offered his life as a ransom for many.
This feast of St. James also reminds us that our life is a
pilgrimage on earth in a journey towards our eternal home in heaven. In this pilgrimage we understand what St. Paul said in the
1st reading - We are only earthenware jars that hold the treasures of God.
Like St. James, let us pour out our life in service of God
and others, so that, as the 1st reading puts it - the more grace is multiplied
among people, the more thanksgiving there will be to the glory of God.
****
Saturday July 25
ST. JAMES MAJOR,
APOSTLE (FEAST)
Introduction
James became a disciple of Jesus together with his brother
John. He was, with Peter and John, among the apostles closest to Jesus,
witnessing the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, the Lord’s transfiguration and
agony. A “son of thunder” in his zeal for the kingdom, he proposed a hard line
against those who did not accept the gospel. But Jesus told him that his task
was not to destroy but to save. James himself experienced the consequences of
the hard line when he died a martyr’s death, thus sharing Jesus’ cup of
sacrifice as the Lord had foretold him.
-Lord, through St. Paul, you remind us that we may afflicted
in many ways, but not destroyed;
-Lord, through St. Paul, you remind us that we may perplexed,
but not driven to despair;
-Lord through St. Paul you remind us that we may have many
enemies, but never without a friend
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, Your Son Jesus was your equal and yet he made
himself our brother and servant. May his Spirit be alive in us, as he was alive
in St. James, and dispose us to become, like your Son, powerless and vulnerable
so that we can serve one another, especially in the weakest of our brothers and
sisters. In this way may people experience how bold you make our love. We ask
this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Commentary
James and John had a long way to go in understanding the
nature of the mission of Christ. Jesus chose them knowing well that their
intentions in following him were mixed and needed refinement. True enough, the
lack of refinement in their intentions showed. In today’s narrative, we see how
focused James and John were on receiving powerful positions in the Kingdom.
Ironically, they would receive powerful positions, but not in the manner and
style they or their mother had expected. They would have to walk the Way of
Christ and drink his cup before they would receive his power and glory. They
had to walk a long way with Jesus, a walk during which their life would
gradually change. One of the famous pilgrimage centers in Europe is El Camino
de Santiago, the Way of St. James. Pilgrims walk the path to the tomb of St
James in the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Ideally, the
pilgrimage begins at one’s home and ends at the Cathedral. Ideally, the walk
transforms the pilgrim. It definitely takes a long, reflective walk with Christ
to purify our intentions and learn what it means to drink his cup and share his
cross before we can receive his glory. Let us walk the Way with St. James.
Intercessions
– That the basic attitude of our Christian leaders, bishops,
priests, lay ministers, may be a spirit of service to their people, we pray:
– That those who are persecuted may never despair but keep
trusting in the Lord, we pray:
– That no difficulties may keep our missionaries from
preaching the Lord, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, your Son asks us to drink with him the cup of
self-sacrificing service. Let Jesus fill us with that love which alone can
understand that to be great is to serve others and to use up our lives to give
them a chance to live May we seek no other reward than to share the destiny of
Jesus, our Lord and Savior for ever.
Prayer after
Communion
Lord our God, your Son Jesus Christ gave his life for his
friends and lighted in them a fire that cannot be extinguished. Strengthened by
the bread of Life may we follow St. James, your apostle and martyr, in his
total and lasting dedication to the kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ, our
Lord.
Blessing
Our attitude in life is too much that we want to be served.
It’s easy and pleasant. Jesus tells us that we have to learn how to serve. That
is what will bring us true happiness. May almighty God give us that attitude
and bless us, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
***
Saint James
Feast day July 25
St. James is called James the Greater, possibly because he
followed Christ before the other apostle named James. Very early in his public
life, Jesus called James to follow him. Along with Peter and John, James was
one of the favored three to witness the Transfiguration of Jesus, the raising
of Jairus’s daughter, and the agony in the garden on Holy Thursday night.
James and John were known as Boanerges, which means “sons of
thunder.” They seem to have had strong tempers. We read in Matthew
20:20-28 that the mother of James and John once asked Jesus to give
her sons a high position in his kingdom. When Jesus asked the two brothers if
they could endure the same suffering he was going to endure, they both said
yes.
We do not know very much about James’ life. Tradition says
he may have traveled to Spain. During the Middle Ages there was a famous shrine
to St. James at Compostela in Spain. Luke records in the Acts of the Apostles:
“It was about this time that King Herod started persecuting certain members of
the Church. He beheaded James, the brother of John” (Acts 12:1-2). James is
thought to have been the first apostle martyred.
St. James is a very popular saint in England, where more
than four hundred churches are dedicated to him.