HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES, APOSTLE. (2)

HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES, APOSTLE.

THEME: ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’

BY: Fr. Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.

*READINGS OF THE DAY*
2 Corinthians 4:7-15
Psalm 125:1-6
Matthew 20:20-28

*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
RED

*INTRODUCTION*
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint James the Apostle. According to the gospels James and his brother John, along with Peter and his brother Andrew, were the first to be called by Jesus to follow him. All four were fishermen, and the father of James and John, Zebedee, seems to have had a thriving fishing business because the gospels refer to him as having hired men working for him. James and John were among the twelve that Jesus chose from his wider group of disciples. According to the gospels, Jesus took Peter, James and John up the Mount of Transfiguration and he brought the same three with him into the garden of Gethsemane. So, James was one of three disciples who had privileged access to Jesus.

*ABOUT OUR GOSPEL OF THE DAY*
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the same two brothers St. James and St. John, who came together with their mother, and at that time, their mother asked the Lord to grant the two of them the places of honour by the left and the right hand side of the Lord. As we heard, this action brought about a lot of insecurities and jealousy from the other disciples of the Lord, and it highlighted to us the dangers of temptations of worldly power and glory, and one which we should resist or else we may end up falling into the wrong paths in life, and not the path that the Lord has shown us.

*CONCLUSION*
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be strengthened by the dedication shown by the Apostle James, all his work and ministry, and in his courage to spread the word of God and the faith, and in having indeed drunk of the cup of suffering and martyrdom that the Lord Himself had drunk from. Let us all be genuine and committed disciples of the Lord ourselves and let us all seek to do what the Lord had called us to do, and be ever more faithful to Him in all of our ways. Let us all be exemplary and good in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions and relationships with one another. We are all parts of the Church and its mission to evangelise and to proclaim God’s truth, salvation and Good News to all the whole world.
Saint James the apostle, Pray for Us Sinners.

Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.

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