Homily: July 25 - St. James the Greater, Apostle

Today we honor St. James the Apostle, son of Zebedee and the brother of another apostle, St. John the Evangelist.  This St. James is traditionally given the title, “the Greater” to distinguish him from another Apostle, St. James, Son of Alpheus, who is called “the lesser”.  The titles “greater” and “lesser” are not intended to measure their level of holiness, but simply describe how frequent they are mentioned in the New Testament. 

James was called by the Lord while working as a fisherman.  He and his brother John were docked on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and they were mending their nets.  The Lord beckoned and they followed, changing their lives forever. 

Scripture paints James and John as zealous and enthusiastic followers of Jesus.  They were called “the Sons of Thunder” by Jesus himself. 

In the 12^th Chapter of the Book of Acts, we hear how St. James was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa making him the first apostle to be martyred. 

Before his martyrdom, he went on an evangelizing mission quite far from the Sea of Galilee, all the way to Spain, by foot,  where his relics were brought after his death. That’s about a 7000 miles round trip!

Over the last 2000 years, thousands and thousands of Catholics have made pilgrimage to venerate St. James’ relics in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. You may have heard of the famous pilgrimage route called the Via de Compostela, the famous way of Saint James.  There was a movie starring Martin Sheen that was pretty well done.

Art and stained glass windows often depict St. James with the pilgrim’s walking stick and a seashell, which is both a symbol of baptism and pilgrimage. 

Making pilgrimage to a shrine reminds us that the entire Christian life is much like a pilgrimage.  And the joys and sufferings of the pilgrimage remind us that striving to be like Jesus in our service to God, is full of both joys and sufferings. Making a pilgrimage can be a way of reigniting our zeal for living and spreading the Gospel.

We are inspired by the Apostles and their zeal for doing the Lord’s work.  Christian zeal is that burning desire to please God and to advance his kingdom in every possible way, which should be the motivating force for all of us.  It impels us to make any sacrifice, to go through any trouble, to deny ourselves anything, to work, to spend ourselves, and even to die in order to please God and honor Christ.

St. James reminds us that the Gospel is meant to be taken out of the comfortable confines of the familiar, into unknown territory and foreign land.  Where will you take the Gospel today?  For the glory of God and salvation of souls.