Saints + Scripture: Feast of Saint James

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Feast of Saint James, Apostle (died 44, the Greater, the Son of Zebedee, one of the two "Sons of Thunder;" originally Ya'qob, in Latin Iacobus, in English Jacob), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius, at the command of the client tetrarch Herod Agrippa.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Brother of St. John the Apostle (27 December).

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 (R/. five), 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: Festal Readings.

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 am going to drink?” The key to honor in the kingdom of God is to drink the cup of suffering, to be willing 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.

Video reflection by Monsignor Robert Cannon (U.S.C.C.B.): Festal Reflection.