St. James the Greater

St. James, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John, was beheaded at the order of Herod Agrippa in the year 43 or 44 A.D. Little did this former fisherman, who accepted the invitation to leave his fishing nets and family business, abandoning his father on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and following Jesus with fidelity and enthusiasm ever imagine that he would be the first of the Twelve to shed his blood for the faith. He took the words of Jesus to preach the Good News seriously and was so notably active in Jerusalem, that like Jesus himself, he was seen as a threat to Judaism and thus had to be eliminated. Like Stephen's death, the blood of this second martyr became the seed of faith which grew stronger in the Jerusalem community.
Taking the mission of evangelization seriously and living it actively and visibly might not take such a dramatic turn, but it should entail some suffering. For despite it's positive and satisfying tenets to those who believe, or who are seeking the Truth, the Christian message poses an unwelcome threat to the values of "the world." Yesterday, we heard about "the pearl of great price" (Mt 13: 46 ) at the Gospel. So many have mistaken false pearls for the real pearl, and have sunk their treasure into these. They don't want to hear about the REAL pearl and ignore the invitation to sell all to purchase it, or militantly degrade those who offer it. The lesson of James is that this pearl is worth even our own lives. "May his profession of faith give us courage and his prayers bring us strength." (Opening Prayer for the Mass in honor of St. James).
Bro. Rene