St. James
One
Today is the Feast of St. James the Great, the brother of John and one of the three Apostles who were the closest friends of Jesus.
The Gospel Matthew relates (20:17-28), “Then the mother of James and John came with her sons to make a request of Jesus, and bowed low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.’”
“‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered. ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’
“They replied, ‘We can.’
“‘Very well,’ he said, ‘you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.’ When the other ten heard this, they were indignant with the two brothers.”
You may be tempted to think James and John had given into vain ambition, especially since the other Apostles were indignant. But St. John Henry Newman gives us a very different perspective. He says this was not vain ambition. It was courage. Courage is the willingness to risk and even sacrifice what is lesser for what is greater. Courage requires that we risk or venture something to gain the prize.
“Can you drink the cup?” Jesus said. “Are you willing to risk and lose what you hold most dear, even your life to gain the Kingdom of Heaven?” “Yes,” they answered. This is not vain ambition, this is prudent and heroic desire. They said, in essence, we see the goal which is Heaven, the Kingdom of God, transforming union with Christ, and we are willing to risk it all to gain it.
Can we say the same?
Two
They asked to reign with Christ. He in answer told them not that they were guaranteed of it but that they must venture for it, strive after it.
St Jerome says, “Jesus did not say, ‘You shall not sit there,’ that He might not discourage the two brothers; neither did He say, ‘You shall sit there,’ that He might not stir the others to anger; but by holding up the prize before all, He might encourage all to strive for Him. So a just king presiding over a contest instituted by him, if his relatives and friends should come and say, ‘Give us the prize,’ gives this answer, ‘It is not mine to give the prize to you, but to those…who strive in the contest and gain the victory.’”
Here then a great lesson is impressed upon us, that our love for Christ should cause us to take risks to do something great for the love of God and the good of others without the absolute certainty of success.
Three
James did risk everything for the love of Christ and for souls. James spread the truth about Jesus Christ to Spain.
On January 2nd, 40 AD, James had made it as far as Zaragoza, where he was preaching the Gospel - but with little success. Feeling very discouraged he sat down on the bank of the Ebro River, dejected. At that moment, Mary, the Mother of Jesus appeared to James, standing on a pillar of marble. She said to him, “James, the faith you establish here will be firmer and last longer than the pillar I stand upon.” James arose, went forward and preached the Gospel, and won many converts to Christ. And the faith he established in Spain endures to this day.
To remember the appearance and promise of the Virgin Mary, the first Marian shrine was built around the pillar on which she appeared. This bilocation of Mary came to be known as Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, Spain in 40 AD, ten years before Mary was assumed into heaven.
If you feel defeated, dejected, or confused, entrust yourself to Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Pillar and she will strengthen you to be as strong and unshakeable as that pillar which stands to this day.
Four
Jesus asked James, “Can you drink the cup that I drink?” James responded, “I can” and he did.
About two years after Mary appeared to James in Spain, he returned to Jerusalem where King Herod Agrippa had him arrested and beheaded, killed by the sword.
Ten years earlier, when James told Jesus he could drink the cup, he had very little idea what it would mean. And at that moment he did not have the grace or virtue to drink the cup of martyrdom that Jesus drank. But James had the right desire. He was willing to risk anything for Jesus. And the Lord accepted their vow and gave him the grace to carry it out.
What courageous and generous gift of self are we willing to make for the love of Christ and the love of souls? Think of what Christ has done for us. It cost Him His life. Shouldn’t we try to give as much as we can in return? Shouldn’t we make some venture for Him that contains fear, risk, danger, and the uncertainty of success?
Marriage is the mission to build the Kingdom of God by having and raising children for heaven. Have we been heroically generous in having children, or are we holding back out of fear? Are we as generous as we could be with our money? Is our priority to make sure we have enough until we die as if God is not generous or strong enough to provide for his children?
Are we as generous as we could be with prayer or do we waste time in lesser pursuits? And are we generous in leading people to Jesus through Mary and good friendships?
Five
We should desire to become a saint and strive after it with all our energy and resources and help others do the same.
Teresa of Avila writes, “Have great confidence, for it is necessary not to hold back one's desires, but to believe in God that if we try, we shall little by little, even though it may not be soon, reach the state the saints did with His help. For if they had never determined to desire and seek this state little by little in practice, they would never have mounted so high. His Majesty wants this determination, and He is a friend of courageous souls if they walk in humility and without trusting in self…I marvel at how important it is to be courageous in striving for great things along this path.”