Wednesday, Feast of St. James, Apostle
(Matthew 20)
According to the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, St. James is one of Jesus’ first and most intimate disciples. Along with Peter and John, James accompanies Jesus to the mountaintop of transfiguration and to his place of agony in Gethsemane. He is also featured with John as the one of the brothers who (or, as we have it today, whose mother) make the pretentious bid for the seats of highest honor in Jesus’ kingdom. The Acts of the Apostles names James as the first of the twelve to be martyred. But Europe may recognize St. James more as the object of a pilgrimage than as a biblical figure. Since the early Middle Ages pilgrims have traveled what is known as St. James Way to the saint’s supposed his tomb in Compostela, a city of northwestern Spain. Although Christianity is waning in Europe, the number of pilgrims to Compostela has evidently increased over the last century.
A pilgrimage symbolizes the Christian journey to God. The destination, of course, is the heavenly city, where we are rewarded for having lived our faith in love. Pilgrims seldom spend all their time in prayerful devotion. Rather they also experience many moments of companionship and introspection. If we have never made a pilgrimage, perhaps we have participated in a procession, which is a mini-pilgrimage. Processions, we remember, are filled with distractions – people greeting one another or complaining how their feet ache! -- even as they recite the rosary.
So we should not be too surprised at the shameless request of James and John’s mother as Jesus is finishing his journey to Jerusalem. What we must keep in mind is that she is part of a bigger movement. She walks with the Lord and his disciple where forgiveness of faults and healing of inordinate desires are graciously given. This same purification is accessible to us as we navigate life’s journey with the Church. Jesus has bestowed upon it the power to forgive our sins.
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