Feast of Saint
James, apostle
(II Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28)
In an old television drama the father of a teenage
basketball player comes in a room bragging about his son’s performance the
night before. “Twenty-seven points,” he gloats, “How about that kid of mine?” Nobody seems interested in listening to him,
however. His son hogged the ball, and
the team lost. In the gospel today the
mother of James and John sounds a bit like this proud father as she recommends
her sons to Jesus.
Jesus does not chastise the brothers for desiring higher
offices. He does not call their ambition
a sin or tell them that they should be ashamed.
What concerns him is the possibility that the brothers seek the
positions to call attention to themselves.
Jesus advises the twelve that leaders are not to take advantage of their
followers. He puts himself as an
example: as he – the Son of Man destined to judge the world – does not seek his
own welfare but the good of all, so must they, his disciples, follow suit.
James learned the lesson well. He became the first of
Jesus’ twelve apostles to give witness to their master with his life. Today we honor him both by our prayers and,
more importantly, by our imitation of his sacrifice that gives glory to Jesus.
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