Today we stand at the Feast of Saint James the Apostle, first of the Twelve to die for Christ. The readings hold up two pictures of greatness side by side: the mother of James and John asking Jesus for thrones, and Paul writing about treasure held in fragile clay vessels. Between them runs a single question: what does it mean to be great in the kingdom of God?
What today’s readings give us
The First Reading comes from 2 Corinthians 4, where Paul describes the paradox of apostolic ministry. He and his companions carry the life of Jesus in bodies that are pressed, perplexed, persecuted. They are clay jars holding treasure, mortal flesh making the power of God visible by its very fragility.
The Gospel takes us to Matthew 20, where the mother of Zebedee’s sons approaches Jesus with her request: let one sit at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom. Jesus answers with a question about drinking the cup he will drink. The other ten are indignant. Christ gathers them and redefines greatness: whoever would be great among you must be your servant.
The line worth carrying with you
Paul writes in today’s reading: “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7, Douay-Rheims). The treasure is the gospel, the knowledge of Christ’s glory. The vessel is Paul himself, breakable, ordinary, insufficient. The point is the gap between the two. If the vessel were golden, you might credit the vessel. Because it is clay, you know the light comes from somewhere else.
This is what Jesus means when he tells James and John they do not know what they are asking. To sit at his right and left in the kingdom is to be crucified next to him. True greatness in the kingdom is not position but participation in Christ’s death and life. James will drink that cup in Acts 12, beheaded by Herod. His mother’s request is granted in a way she could not have imagined. The treasure is carried in a clay jar that breaks open, and the light spills out.
For today
This afternoon, consider one place where you feel inadequate to what God is asking. Read 2 Corinthians 4:7 again slowly. The inadequacy is the point. The clay jar does not generate the light; it only holds it and lets it shine through the cracks.
Today’s full readings are at USCCB. You can also find additional reflections at today’s Mass readings and learn more about today’s saint.
