Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mt 20:28).

Today is the Feast of St. James the Apostle. James was among the first disciples of Jesus. St. Matthew tells us that, “As he walked by the Sea of Galilee … Jesus saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother mending their nets and he called them” (Mt 4:18, 21). Church tradition tells us that St. James was the first of the 12 Apostles to die a martyr’s death.

The Gospel for today’s feast (Mt 20:20-28) reminds us that self-sacrificing love and service are the way of Jesus, and that those who wish to follow him must embrace these virtues without counting the cost. As Jesus says in response to the mother of James and John when she asked him to give her sons favored status, his followers are required to drink from the same chalice of pain and humiliation that the Lord himself had to endure. All attempts to gain social status or power over others are self-serving and an abuse of the true meaning of Christian discipleship. Jesus says:

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. (Mt 20:25-27)

Jesus warns his Apostles that what lies ahead for them is not what the world considers a life of prestige or honor, but the hard work of selfless leadership and service in the manner of Christ himself who “did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28).

We can’t fault the mother of James and John for wanting the best for her sons. St. Matthew tells us that the other 10 Apostles were “indignant” at her presumption, but Jesus uses this occasion as an opportunity to help them understand the kind of life that was in store for them if they continued to follow him. So, he asks them, “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” (Mt 20:22)

In the first reading for the Feast of St. James (2 Cor 4:7-15), St. Paul bluntly describes what can be called “the cost of discipleship.” He says:

We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ­persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Cor 4:7-11)

St. Paul teaches that our sufferings and hardships are a participation in the redemptive passion and death of Jesus. Death is at work in us, Paul says, only so that the One who raised Jesus from the dead can raise us up also. “For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor 4:11).

The life of a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ is not supposed to be gloomy or depressing. On the contrary, when lived fully the Christian life is filled with joy and hope. When Jesus cautions the sons of Zebedee (and all of us) that we must be prepared to “drink from the same chalice” that he accepted as the price of our salvation, he is teaching us that our joy will come from a very different source than worldly pleasure or privilege. Christian joy comes from self-emptying love and service, not from self-gratification or the adulation of others.

If we wish to follow Jesus, we must accept that the Cross is the only way to authentic freedom and joy. If we want to be leaders, we must be servants, and if we want to one day take our rightful places in the kingdom of heaven, we must be willing to live and die as Jesus did.

As we continue our Jubilee celebration as Pilgrims of Hope, let’s remember that the Cross of Jesus is the only way to the joy of everlasting life in him. St. James the Apostle, pray for us. Help us to be faithful missionary disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. †