Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 25, 2022
The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her,
“What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
He replied,
“My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
“Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.”
Before this question, Jesus had foretold that he would be betrayed, condemned to death, mocked, scourged, and crucified. Despite hearing this and knowing all that would be done, James and his brother John are willing to answer the call to undergo a life of suffering and persecution.
James, whom we remember today, is very ambitious. He sought to possess life everlasting and to sit at the right of Jesus in his kingdom. Do we share his ambition and his glorious passion?
“My chalice you will indeed drink….” Jesus foretells James’ martyrdom. In the previous chapter to today’s gospel, Jesus alludes to Jame’s place of honor, “…you, who have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
What would be foretold for us? Most importantly, Jesus reminds the apostles that those who will be first and great among them are those who will serve and give their lives to others.
During a recent sermon, the priest at my parish prompted us to ask ourselves, “Where are we going?” That question has stayed in my mind. I suppose we must also ask ourselves where we want to go, whether our actions reflect this, and whether we have the ambition, like James, to stay on course.
By the intercession of Saint James, let us pray to share his ambition, passion, and eventual humility so that we may reach God’s kingdom.
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 the 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 the 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 martyred—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 Compostela became symbols for St. James as well—the cockle shell and pilgrim’s staff. He is depicted as a pilgrim in this painting by Rembrandt.
St. James is also the 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.
