Feast of St. James, Apostle
When life is going well, we tend to feel pretty good about ourselves—about our accomplishments, our talents, the compliments we receive, etc. This positive feeling can distract us from the greater reality that God accomplishes all that is good and may set us up for embarrassment when we fail. When we lose sight of God’s action in our lives and in the world, the world comes at us with our shortcomings and weaknesses.
As they traveled with Jesus and experienced some of their own success in preaching the Kingdom, James and John were feeling good about themselves and decided that they deserved special consideration from the Lord. They want to be elevated to be enthroned on either side of the Lord, but Jesus brings them back down to earth by emphasizing the price that he will pay to accomplish his work. He will drink the chalice of self-sacrifice not for his own exaltation but for ours. James and John, still thinking of their own status, declare that they can also sacrifice, but they are not yet ready to do so for others. The price of our salvation was the life of Jesus Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God. Likewise, we are called to self-sacrifice, not because it will add anything to his sacrifice but because it unites us to the one who died for our redemption.
Reflection by Fr. Victor Schinstock, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections