Biographical Information about St. James[1]
Readings for the Feast of St. James[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15
On the feast of the first Apostle to be martyred we hear St. Paul speaking to the Corinthians about suffering and death in the human existence of this life, in spite of living in the faith. The image he uses, fragile earthen pots, speak of God’s instruments being easily broken but none the less effective (the image of small terracotta lamps in which light is carried is mentioned elsewhere).
Responsorial Psalm Ps 126:1bc-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Psalm 126 is a song of praise. It rejoices here in the return of the captives placed in servitude during the Diaspora.
Gospel Mt 20:20-28
The sons of Zebedee, James and John, are pushed forward by their mother who (naturally) wishes them to achieve places of honor in the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses this event to speak first of his own passion and then about Christian leadership. The Servant Leader, as Jesus describes, leads through example.
Reflection:
Grim determination, that is the sense we feel from today’s readings. We hear first from St. Paul that the lot the Christian must follow is not an easy one. The Lord did not walk an easy path and it is one we are asked to follow. Yes, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and yes, we live in a time and place when blatant persecution is less prevalent. But the path is one that only the spiritually strong may take.
The mother of James and John, the “Son’s of Thunder” as they were called, brought them forward to Jesus in the Gospel of St. Matthew today. She wanted them to have places of honor with this great teacher and holy man to whom they had attached themselves. It must have been to Christ like a person binging him two pieces of coal and asking him to make them diamonds. The act of transformation destroys the physical form and the Lord’s reaction, almost in sorrow, shows that he knows what must become of them.
St. James will be the first of the twelve to die. History tells us he is beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great (Acts 12). He was the flash powder, burning brightly in Jerusalem and being extinguished. We remember him today especially as one who opened the path for us.
As we walk the difficult path today, we thank God for the support we are given and the determination of those who forged the path in the early years when death was often found quickly as a consequence of proclaiming Christ and Him crucified. We ask for some part of that strength today.
Pax
[1] The Picture is titled St. James the Elder by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1861
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
Readings for the Feast of St. James[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15
On the feast of the first Apostle to be martyred we hear St. Paul speaking to the Corinthians about suffering and death in the human existence of this life, in spite of living in the faith. The image he uses, fragile earthen pots, speak of God’s instruments being easily broken but none the less effective (the image of small terracotta lamps in which light is carried is mentioned elsewhere).
Responsorial Psalm Ps 126:1bc-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Psalm 126 is a song of praise. It rejoices here in the return of the captives placed in servitude during the Diaspora.
Gospel Mt 20:20-28
The sons of Zebedee, James and John, are pushed forward by their mother who (naturally) wishes them to achieve places of honor in the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses this event to speak first of his own passion and then about Christian leadership. The Servant Leader, as Jesus describes, leads through example.
Reflection:
Grim determination, that is the sense we feel from today’s readings. We hear first from St. Paul that the lot the Christian must follow is not an easy one. The Lord did not walk an easy path and it is one we are asked to follow. Yes, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and yes, we live in a time and place when blatant persecution is less prevalent. But the path is one that only the spiritually strong may take.
The mother of James and John, the “Son’s of Thunder” as they were called, brought them forward to Jesus in the Gospel of St. Matthew today. She wanted them to have places of honor with this great teacher and holy man to whom they had attached themselves. It must have been to Christ like a person binging him two pieces of coal and asking him to make them diamonds. The act of transformation destroys the physical form and the Lord’s reaction, almost in sorrow, shows that he knows what must become of them.
St. James will be the first of the twelve to die. History tells us he is beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great (Acts 12). He was the flash powder, burning brightly in Jerusalem and being extinguished. We remember him today especially as one who opened the path for us.
As we walk the difficult path today, we thank God for the support we are given and the determination of those who forged the path in the early years when death was often found quickly as a consequence of proclaiming Christ and Him crucified. We ask for some part of that strength today.
Pax
[1] The Picture is titled St. James the Elder by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1861
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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