Commentary: Wayback Machine.Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
James, son of Zebedee was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, & traditionally considered the first apostle to be martyred.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
This James is the brother of [St.] John the Evangelist [27 December]. The two were called by Jesus as they worked with their father in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had already called another pair of brothers from a similar occupation: [Ss.] Peter [22 February, 29 June] & Andrew [30 November]. "He walked along a little farther & saw James, the son of Zebedee, & his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then He called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men & followed Him" (Mark, 1:19-20). James was apparently the first of the apostles to be martyred. "About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them. He had Jams, the brother of John, killed by the sword, & when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also" (Acts, 12:1-3a).'Tis also the festival of Saint Christopher, Martyr (died circa 251), martyred in the reign of the emperor Decius, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link XIV.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Glodesind of Metz, Abbess (died circa 608): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feast of Saint James
The Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter four, verses seven thru fifteen;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-six, verses one(b,c) & two(a,b), two(c,d) & three, four & five, & six;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty, verses twenty thru twenty-eight.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today in our Gospel the mother of James and John asks Jesus on their behalf for high places of authority in his kingdom. Ah, there is the voice of ambition. Some people don't care at all about money or power or pleasure—but they care passionately about honor. A lot of people can identify with James and John. They want to go places, they want to be movers and shakers in society. Perhaps a number of people reading this reflection are filled with these emotions.
But Jesus turns the tables on them: "You do not know what you are asking." He is indeed a King and he will indeed rule Israel, but his crown will be made of thorns and his throne will be a Roman instrument of torture.
And so he tries to clarify: "Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" The key to honor in the Kingdom of God is to drink the cup of suffering, the willingness to suffer out of love, to give one's life away as a gift. Look at the lives of the saints. It is not about aggrandizing the ego, but emptying it out.
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