Fresh Dew Media

 25 July: Feast of St James, Apostle: reflection

Theme: What does it mean to be great?

Reading: Mt 20:20-28

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of James the Greater, Apostle.  James was the son of Zebedee, the fisherman, and Salome, the sister/cousin of Jesus’ mother, and the brother of John, the Evangelist and Apostle.  He was one of the three inner circle members of Jesus’ disciples who had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane. He was later known as James the Greater to distinguish him from James the Less (the son of Clopas), who was leader of the Church in Jerusalem and wrote the Epistle that bears his name.  James the Great was the first apostle that was killed by Herod in 44 AD, in Herold’s attempt to please the Jews (Acts 12:1-3).

What exactly does it mean to be great? What constitutes greatness? These two questions may have preoccupied young James and His brother, John. For them, greatness meant occupying exalted positions in the society, dishing out commands from there, getting served by others and all other paraphernalia that goes with it. This understanding of greatness propelled them to ask Jesus (or to tell their mother to ask Jesus) to allow them to occupy positions at His right and left in His glory. But Jesus would not accept such a request because His idea of greatness was not what James and John envisioned and desired.

For Jesus, greatness does not entail occupying higher positions in the society, dishing out commands to others, getting served by others and other things that go with such mentality of greatness. According to Jesus in today’s gospel, it is only humble services that will make his disciples great, not exalted positions. By humbly serving others, his disciples will write their names with a golden pen in people’s lives and hearts, thereby becoming great in people’s scales of grading people.  Also, greatness does not lie in the possession of material goods, rather, it lies in the good things that one imparts on others. The sacrifices one makes for other people is what makes one great.

The gospel of today and the feast of St James, therefore, challenge us to reconsider our definition of greatness as well as what we want when we ask God to make us great. If what we mean when we pray to God to make us great is a luxury life or a life that sets us at a position to command others and get served by them, then, we may have been channelling our prayers to the wrong direction.

Greatness, according to the standard of Jesus, can be achieved by both the poor and rich. So, dear friends, don’t wait until you are materially rich to become great. Start today by providing good and humble services to people around you, and greatness will be achieved by you.

St James, pray for us

Fr Isaac C. Chima