Feast of Saint James, Apostle
(II
Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28)
In today’s gospel Jesus predicts the martyrdom of
James. In fact, the Acts of the Apostles
relates that James becomes the first of the twelve to give his life in
testimony to Christ. The reading from St.
Paul can be considered a commentary on James’ sacrifice.
Paul writes
from personal experience. He was
afflicted in every way – beatings, insults, shipwrecks, the ardor of travel,
etc. But he never gave up. The person of Jesus influenced him as well as
James and many, many Christians martyrs over twenty centuries. Jesus’ teaching moved them to evangelize
others. And the Holy Spirit conveying
God’s love inspired them to make the ultimate sacrifice.
We are the
beneficiaries of their efforts.
Sometimes we have difficulty appreciating our legacy. We live in a society of individuals. Married couples often don’t share the same
bank account, much less the same email address.
To say that we belong to the Church of the Apostles may sound like a
shallow claim. Nevertheless, following
the teachings of the apostles, we realize that our future is not limited. Rather, like them, our destiny is the glory of
Christ risen from the dead.
