Mass was offered yesterday for the repose of the soul of Joe Coleman (+), and may he be forever blessed. Yesterday was the memorial day of the Maronite (Lebanese) monk and hermit, Saint Sharbel, who lived in the nineteenth century and was well-known for his holiness and as something of a miracle-worker. Miracles are still reported today at his tomb, and Mount Maron is one of the places on my list of places to visit. Fortunately, I have a friend there, so I shall one day have a proper visit.
Today is an entirely different order of feast day, for we remember one of the three privileged Apostles of the Twelve. We shouldn't be entirely surprised, perhaps, that our Blessed Lord had favourites. But He did elect Peter as the leader and chose Peter and the brothers James and John to witness the most intimate moments of His ministry: the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1), when He visibly took His place as unifying the Law (in the person of Moses) and the prophecies (in the person of Elijah); His raising of the dead daughter of Jairus (Luke 8: 51); and during the His Agony in the garden (Matthew 26: 37). But there was a little more to it than these men being His best friends. He must have judged them entirely trustworthy. There were some things that He wanted to be broadcast only after His crucifixion, death and Resurrection. And in the Jewish tradition, any type of legitimate report required the testimony of at least two witnesses and preferably three.
And one of those three Apostles was James, whom we can call impulsive, as also was his brother, for we have the story of them attempting to surpass even the prince of the Apostles, Peter, by acquiring places of honour at the side of Christ in the kingdom of heaven. They also got their mother to ask Him for it. She was closely related to the Blessed Virgin, and so may have been Jesus' aunty. Clever, clever:
"Thereupon the mother of the sons of Zebedee brought them to Him, falling on her knees to make a request of Him. And when He asked her, 'What is thy will?' she said to Him, 'Here are my two sons; grant that in Thy kingdom one may take his place on Thy right and the other on Thy left.' But Jesus answered, 'You do not know what it is you ask. Have you strength to drink of the cup I am to drink of?' They said, 'We have.' And He told them, 'You shall indeed drink of my cup; but a place on My right hand or My left is not mine to give; it is for those for whom My Father has destined it.' The ten others were angry with the two brethren when they heard it." - Gospel of S. Matthew, 20: 20-24
It didn't work, but we can see their spirit of devotion nevertheless, a spirit that led Saint James to be a formidable preacher in Judaea and Samaria after the first Pentecost Sunday. Tradition also tells us that he got across to Spain and appointed some bishops there before his arrest and execution in Jerusalem. He became the first of the Apostles to be thus martyred and his relics were eventually carried to the town in the north-west of Spain that is still called by his name Saint James, in Spanish Santiago, one of the ultimate pilgrimage destinations. Here's a summary:
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