Feast of Saint
James, apostle
(II Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28)
People were gathering in a bar in New York City to have a
drink after work seven months after nine-eleven. A young marine in full dress was standing at
the bar with two older men, possibly his dad and uncle. At one table sat a group of outdoor workmen;
at another a group of office women. Into
the room walked two men wearing NYFD tee shirts. Perhaps because they were wearing boots as
well, no one seemed to doubt that they were really firemen. Everything stopped as all the customers rose to
their feet. The marine turned around and
gave the fireman a full salute. Everyone
else followed suit. The bartender poured
the firemen drinks, and all went back to what it had been. Today the Church honors St. James with the
same instinct that captured the attention of that crowd in the bar after
nine-eleven.
St. James was the first of the apostles on record to have
been martyred for the sake of Christ. The
Acts of the Apostles mentions that he was executed by order of King Herod. In time all of the others except St. John are
believed to have similarly given their lives as a witness to Christ. For this reason they are venerated as James today
with a proper feast day.
After so many centuries we have lost some of the fervor
in honoring the apostle-martyrs. But we
should never neglect to observe their feast days but less forget their
stories. In the first reading Paul, also
an apostle-martyr, explains why. They
suffered travails as well as death so that we might know Jesus Christ who gives
us eternal life.
