July 25, 2007- St. James

Readings: 2 Cor 4:7-15, Ps 126:1bc-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6, Mt 20:20-28

Today we celebrate the feast of St. James. He was the first apostle that was martyred for the faith. The gospel today states that his mother asks for her two sons, James and John, to sit at the right and left hand of God. Christ responds with,

“You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”

James and John respond immediately "we can." The truth is that they received what their mom asked for. They became martyrs for the Church. Their blood lost for the Gospel helped to spread the word of God and strengthened the Church. Martyrdom continues today in the Church and we must be ready and willing to lay down our life, if it is the will of God, for the sake of the Gospel. Are you ready? What do we need to do to get ready? Study, pray, work for the kingdom of God?

The fact is that in the United States, we will probably not die a martyr, but we are called to be a martyr of charity. The white martyrdom. Every day we should be becoming more like Christ, reaching out to others and growing in our relationship with God. We might not spill blood, but we can spill ourselves out completely for God.