On Thursday 25 July 2024, the Church celebrated the feast of Saint James the Greater. The latter is usually referred to as James, son of Zebedee (cf. Mk 3:17, 18). But what is so special about this Biblical figure?
James the Greater’s relevance within New Testament literature as well as within the context of Jesus’ earthly life needs to be delved into. His name James, from the Greek Iakobos, comes from the Hebrew name Jacob. The name carries a variety of meanings such as “to follow, be behind, to supplant, to overreach,” and also “may God protect.” In view of these overarching meanings it is interesting to see his role within Jesus’ community of apostles.
As a matter of fact, we find James the Greater following Jesus during his Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He also participated in Jesus’ Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. Through his following of the Lord, James keeps experiencing Jesus at the highest and lowest points of his earthly life. Both occasions helped James, as Pope Benedict XVI rightly stated in his catechesis regarding this saint on Wednesday 21 June 2006, to grow in faith, to adjust the unilateral, triumphalist interpretation of the former experience: he had to discern that the Messiah, whom the Jewish people were awaiting as a victor, was in fact not only surrounded by honor and glory, but also by suffering and weakness. Christ’s glory was fulfilled precisely on the Cross, in his sharing in our sufferings.
Empowered by these great experiences he had of Jesus, James readied himself to give his life for his Master. As Pope Benedict points out, early in the first century, in the 40s, King Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, as Luke tells us, “laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the Church. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword.” (Acts 12: 1-2) James’ outstanding disposition to die for Jesus and his importance within the context of the early Church in Jerusalem are undisputed.
James’ greatness kept emerging because, according to a more recent tradition from the time of Isidore of Seville, he even went to evangelize in the important region of Spain within the Roman Empire. Others think that his body was taken to the city of Santiago de Compostela. In this case these details address the fact that James was always ready to leave his earthly securities and follow Jesus. He spent his life as a pilgrim, spreading the saving message of the Gospel and preparing himself and others for the Heavenly Jerusalem.
James was the one who, gradually, learned to immerse himself like Jesus by serving others. In his Angelus address of October 17, 2021 Pope Francis tells us: We are in front of two different types of logic: the disciples want to rise up and Jesus wants to immerse Himself. Let us pause on these two verbs. The first is to rise up. It expresses that worldly mentality to which we are always tempted: to experience everything, including relationships, in order to feed our ambition, to climb the ladder of success, to reach important positions. The quest for personal prestige can become a spiritual malady masquerading itself even behind good intentions: for example, when behind the good that we do and preach, we are only seeking ourselves and our own affirmation, that is, getting ahead and climbing up. (…) Jesus contrasts this worldly logic with his own: instead of exalting yourself over others, getting off the pedestal to serve them; instead of rising above others, immersing one’s self in the lives of others. (…) Looking and lowering ourselves in service and not seeking to climb up for one’s own glory.
In his letter, James shows us different ways of how can one be great in God’s sight. First, he encourages us to go to confession because God’s forgiveness makes us really great. He tells us:
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.
James 5:16
Second, suffering for God makes us great in our faith. He reminds us:
Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, or you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James 1:2-3
Third, we are great in God’s sight if we support those who are suffering and protect ourselves from worldliness. He affirms:
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27
Fourth, we are great in God’s sight if we ask him to imbue us with His wisdom. Saint James encourages us to do so in the following verse:
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.
James 1:5
Fifth, we are great in God’s regard if we embrace sacramental grace. He says:
Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord .
James 5:14
Sixth, we are great in God’s eyes if we prove our faith by our charitable works. He says:
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?
James 2:14
Finally, one is great in God’s eyes when we recognize that the good we do is God himself doing it through you and me! That is why Saint James boldly states:
Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:17
O Glorious St. James, because of your fervor and generosity, Jesus chose you to witness His glory on the Mount and His agony in the garden. Obtain for us strength and consolation in the upending struggles of this life. Help us to follow Christ constantly and generously, to be victors over all our difficulties, and to receive the crown of glory in heaven. Amen.
