A class of Standard Five students were being taught the value of friendship.
At the end of the class, the teacher, while revising, asked the children to give a short definition of friendship.
Little Jane lifted up her hand and replied: “A friend is someone who knows all about you…
… lavishes love on you, for being just as you are
… and yet, gently leads you, to become better than what you are!”
The Gospel of the Day is a beautiful account of Jesus, the True Friend who lavishes His Love for His disciples…
… and yet, gently, leads them to become better disciples!
The Gospel narrative begins with the mother of Apostles James and John, requesting the Lord to grant her children a privileged place in the Kingdom.
>> In her tenderness and affection as a mother, she wished that her children be always close to the Lord…
But the Lord replied…. “You do not know what you are asking”! (Mt 20:22)
The Lord was inviting the mother… and the disciples… and each one of us to understand…
… “What it really means to be close to the Lord!”
Did they really know what it meant to be Close to the Lord?
>> Do I really know what it means to be close to the Lord?
St James had enjoyed a privileged place in the Band of the Apostles of Jesus.
He was in the Core Group – one of the Three – Peter and John being the other two- who had the opportunity to be with the Lord in some of His special and extraordinary moments.
>> Raising the dead daughter of Jairus…
>> Transfiguration on the mountain top….
>> Moments of praying and agony in the Garden of Gethsemane….
James was indeed physically close to the Lord…
But the Lord today invites…with much love and affection…
>> James and his brother John
>> Their mother
>> The disciples
… and each one of us
>> To really realize the meaning, of asking “to be closer to Him”
Being close to the Lord means: Making changes in our lifestyle and to be in accord with the Will of God!
>> Look at the lives of Mother Mary….St Joseph… St Paul… St Peter…St Matthew
Being close to the Lord means: To get out of comfort zones & taking risks in life, for Christ’s sake!
>> Look at the lives of the Good Samaritan…Nicodemus…Simon of Cyrene…
Being close to the Lord means: Giving up a sinful life and amending our ways to seek for holiness!
>> Look at the lives of Zacchaeus… the Woman caught in adultery… the Samaritan Woman,… the Good Thief…
Being close to the Lord means: Embracing sufferings that come our way, seeing the Providence of God!
>> Look at the lives of Mother Mary……St John the Baptist….St Stephen…. St Paul…
In asking to be close to the Lord, we also say that…
… Yes Lord, I will share in your cup of suffering.
… Yes Lord, I will join you on the way of the Cross
… Yes Lord, I will unite with your death on the Cross!
The mother of John and James realized this…
>> That’s why we find her….at the Foot of the Cross (Mt 27:56)
She understood.
>> She got close to Jesus.
>> She remained till the end.
>> She drank the Cup!
John also realized this…
>> That’s we find him, according to tradition…suffering during the Roman Persecution
He understood.
>> He got close to Jesus.
>> He remained till the end.
>> He drank the Cup!
James also realized this…
>> That’s why we find him, killed by the sword…in witness to Christ, His Master (Acts 12:2)
He understood.
>> He got close to Jesus.
>> He remained till the end.
>> He drank the Cup!
The Lord also promises…
>> He who shares my cup…also shares my Glory!
>> He who shares my cross…also shares my Rising!
The Apostle James, went close to the Lord, drank the Cup…
… and he shares in the Joy of the Lord
Today, he intercedes and invites and beckons us…
>> To come closer to the Lord…
… and share in the Lord’s Joy and Glory!
Are we willing to be close…really close…
… to Jesus, our Beloved Friend?
He is our Best Friend “Who knows all about us …
… lavishes His love on us, for being just as we are
… and yet, gently leads us, to become better than what we are!”
Feast Day greetings of the Apostle St James!
God Bless! Live Jesus!
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Quotable-quote-a-day-with-St Francis de Sales (SFS) – “Friendship is completely founded upon communication and exchange…
… and cannot exist in practice, without sharing in the qualities and defects of the friend loved!”
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