The Seating List

~~~ Feast of Saint James, Apostle ~~~

~~~ 2 Corinthians 4:7-15 ~~~ Psalm 126 ~~~ Matthew 20:20-28 ~~~

Maybe the mother of James and John had some kind of motherly

 instinct when she approached Jesus requesting 

special favors for her sons.

“Command that these two sons of mine sit,

one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.”

James was one of three of his apostles 

that he took with him on occasion.

We often read that Jesus took with him

 Peter, James, and John.

Perhaps their mother did not want Peter to get one 

of the places of honor instead of one of her sons.

Jesus realizes that she does not understand

 what she is asking so he says...

“You do not know what you are asking.

Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”

Physically they could pick up the cup and drink from it,

but neither of those brothers had been sent by God

 to atone for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus deferred the seating list back to his Father.

“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.”

In choosing James to be one of the twelve apostles he

bestows upon him the powers of healing and forgiving sins.

Jesus trusted James enough to call him from his 

fishing boat to be one of his chosen.

James was hand picked by Jesus he was 

not just one of the crowd.

These two brothers saw that they were treated different by Jesus 

thus it seemed acceptable for their mother to make

 special requests on their behalf.

I can almost picture the scene...

James and John standing on either side of their mother 

encouraging her to speak to Jesus for them.

Maybe the boys did not want to embarrass 

themselves before Jesus.

Among the other apostles this request could have caused great unrest,

but Jesus was careful in handling it so this did not happen.

James witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus along Peter and John.

Jesus also took these three with him to the Garden of Gethsemane 

on the night before he died.

There is no question about the love and devotion 

James had for Jesus.

Later he too would give his life 

because of his faith in the message of Jesus.

Saint Paul tells us that we too carry the death of Jesus within ourselves.

He tells us we hold the truth of Jesus in earthen vessels.

All that we have...all that we are comes from God.

Everything indeed is for you,

so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people

may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

We give thanks today for all of the apostles

 but especially for James.

James is the patron saint of laborers.

God continues to do great things for us.

He Blesses us when we do not see the whole path.

He Blesses us when we do not completely hear his message.

He Blesses us when we struggle to believe.

Saint James, the Apostle,

pray for us.

~~~Peace~~~