25 July: Feast of St James, Apostle: reflection
Theme: What does it mean to be great?
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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
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