St James

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. James. St. James was the brother of John the Evangelist. The two of them had the ability to be called by Jesus as they worked with their father in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. “He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1:19-20).

St. James was also able to have the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, and the agony in Gethsemani.

Some of the other disciples became indignant at the ambition that St. James and St. John had shown. Then Jesus taught them all the lesson of humble service: The purpose of authority is to serve.

During one occasion St. James and St. John received the nickname that Jesus had given them which was “sons of thunder”. Some Samaritans decided not to welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. “When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?’ Jesus turned and rebuked them...” (Luke 9:54-55).

St. James is believed to be the first of the apostles to be martyred. “About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also” (Acts 12:1-3a).

St. James, sometimes referred to as St. James the Greater, he is not to be confused with James the Lesser or with the author of the Letter of James and the leader of the Jerusalem community.

St. James is the patron saint of Chile, laborers, Nicaragua, Spain and many other things.

Prayer to St. James

St. James help us to guide more people to Christ by serving them with charity, love and humility. Help us to serve others not so that we may be able to receive recognition but help us to serve others so that we may serve Christ and deepen our intimacy with Him.

Amen

St. James pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works cited: Information (read from, not taken): Franciscan media. “Saint James. ”Saint James | Franciscan Media. Accessed July 25, 2021. Images: Saint James. July 25, 2021. Saint James - Google Search.