Feast of Saint James, Apostle
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint James; specifically, we celebrate James the Greater, the brother of Saint John and one of the sons of Zebedee. In our Gospel, James’s mother asks Jesus to grant her sons places of honor in His Kingdom, but He says such honors are not for Him to give out. Such seats, He says, are already set apart by His Father. However, He does promise her sons that they will indeed have a share in His glory, if they can but drink from the same chalice as He. What is this mysterious chalice?
Recall that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays three times, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). James and John are close by, sleeping, as He prays this! Though they do not drink of that chalice then, they drink from it in turn: Saint James was the first apostle to be martyred, as he was stoned and then beheaded in Jerusalem (Acts 12:1-2), and Saint John would live a life full of persecution, suffering, and isolation, being the very of the apostles to die. The chalice is not merely the guarantee of suffering, however, but it represents the will of God. For example, in Psalm 11:5-6 we read that “the Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, hates those who love violence, and rains upon the wicked fiery coals and brimstone, a scorching wind is their allotted cup.” Similarly, Psalm 16:5 says, “Lord, my allotted portion and my cup, you have made my destiny secure,” and likewise, Psalm 75:9, which reads, “Yes, a cup is in the Lord’s hand, foaming wine, fully spiced. When God pours it out, they will drain it even to the dregs; all the wicked of the earth will drink.”
What Jesus asks the Sons of Thunder in our Gospel, He asks of all of us: can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink? For if we can, then the promise of Our King, as articulated in the Spiritual Exercises, may come to pass: “Whoever wishes to come with me must labor with me, so that through following me in the pain he or she may follow me also in the glory.”