Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 25, 2020
The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”
He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Growing up in a family of six, we older kids figured a crafty way to make the youngest one a servant. In the spirit of Tom Sawyer, we created a game called ‘milkman’ because, at the time, our family – like many – were accustomed to having a delivery of milk made to our home each morning (today we would call this game ‘Amazon Prime’). And so, while we were watching TV and desiring something to drink, we would say to Brigid, “Hey, do you want to play ‘milkman’?” Our attention-starved sister would cheerfully pop up and fetch a glass of milk, and often a handful of cookies for the entitled and powerful (but lazy) older kids. While I did enjoy getting a tall glass of cold milk delivered to my hand while watching Gilligan’s Island, I can look back on that and see that we were not just lazy but misguided. Brigid had it right.
In today’s reading, James and John – through their mother’s intervention – wanted a lofty position: to sit at Jesus’ right and left. Jesus is gentle in explaining to them and all of the apostles that such a pursuit is misguided. Instead of seeking power and prestige, each of us should imagine ourselves as servants, seeking to assist others in their journey towards salvation. Jesus himself serves as the perfect model. We see this in the ‘washing of the feet,’ but most clearly, we only need to look at the cross to be reminded of Jesus’ service to mankind, the ultimate sacrifice of his life for our salvation. Our natural inclination may be to think of ourselves first, but let’s instead remember Jesus on the cross. Let us offer to be the ‘milkman’ to our sisters and brothers.
Prayer
Father, by the example of your son, you taught us that true greatness lies not in power, but rather in service. Grant that we may be free of our desire to be powerful, to control others, and to be raised up in status; grant, instead, that we may be filled with a desire to grow in humility and to serve those in need and those who have been entrusted to our care. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. James the Greater is patron saint of Spain and of pilgrims—even today, hundreds of thousands of people journey by foot to visit his tomb in Compostela, Spain.
James was son of Zebedee and Salome, brother to St. John, and cousin to Jesus. He is known as “St. James the Greater” or “St. James Major” only because he was older than another disciple who was also named James (referred to as “Lesser” or “Minor”), and was called by Jesus before him.
James the Greater was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel describes him on a boat near the seashore mending his fishing nets when Jesus called him and his brother, John; “immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” (4:21-22).
Even among the Twelve, James held a special place close to Jesus. He was one of the three disciples with Jesus during the Transfiguration, and he was one of the few present when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter (Mt 9), even though everyone thought the girl was dead.
James was the first of the disciples to be matyred—he was beheaded by King Herod in the year 44. Jesus called James “son of thunder” because of his fiery temper, and his proclivity to angry outbursts could have been what got him killed so early.
Tradition holds that James traveled to Spain after Pentecost to preach the risen Christ. He was struggling with this mission until Mary appeared to him upon a pillar (which is still preserved in Zaragoza, Spain) and ordered a church built on the site. After that apparition, James returned to Judea and was killed by Herod. The disciples took his body by boat from the Holy Land back to Spain, and carried it inland to Compostela, where it now rests.
During the Muslim conquest of Spain, his relics were lost, but were recovered in the ninth century and venerated at Compostela. The popularity of St. James grew throughout Spain and beyond, and a network of roads and trails leading to Compostela emerged as pilgrims streamed there. Santiago de Compostela became a pilgrimage site that rivaled Rome and the Holy Land, and hundreds of thousands of faithful still make the pilgrimage today.
The symbols of pilgrims and of Compostela became symbols for St. James as well—the cockle shell (as pictured here in a stained glass window in the Morrissey Hall chapel) and pilgrim’s staff. He is depicted as a pilgrim in this painting by Rembrandt.
St. James is also patron of those who suffer from arthritis, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. James the Greater, the first disciple to give his life for the faith, and the patron of pilgrims, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. James the Greater is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed March 20, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
