The Gospel for The feast of St. James Apostle is taken from Matthew 20:28. The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage. Wishing to ask him for something, he said to her, what do you wish? She answered him, command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom. Jesus said in reply, you do not know what you are asking.

Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink? They said to him, we can. He replied, 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. When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt.

But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant. Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom. For many this seems like such a human story, and in the eyes of the other disciples, it seems that James and John basically put their mother up to this. We really want a position of power and authority, and it just shows how far they are, in a sense, from the kingdom of God.

But what is so essential in this reading is an understanding of that the great shadow of anyone in a ministry position that gives them a sense of power is so dangerous that anyone in the role of ministry has to be checking themselves over and over again to make sure they’re not caught up in seeking an authority over people, but only looking for ways in which to serve them. Please ponder these reflections, and at the end of the music, I will close with a prayer. Closing prayer Father, we are human and we never lose our humanity. And there’s always a pull, a desire to be seen as someone important, someone valuable. It gives us a sense of worth, a sense of value, free us from that addiction to always looking for approval, and never let us use it in a way that overpowers the rights of others in favor of what our ego longs for. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.