Homily For Friday Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 25th July, 2025. The Feast of St. James, Apostle

Readings: 2Cor 4: 7-15, Ps 126:1-6, Matt: 20:20-28

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

TRUE GREATNESS IS FOUND I HUMBLE SERVICE TO OTHERS AND NOT IN DOMINATION 

To be great is one of the desires of every human person; it is that which makes us utilise the unique gift God has given us, from which we serve Him and our neighbours responsibly. However,  human greediness and selfishness have made us see greatness as domination and subjection of others competitively and comparatively. Today as we celebrate the feast of St. James,  we heard in our Gospel passage how the disciples of Jesus were struggling with this competitive and comparative attitude. 

This is because the mother of Zebedee’s sons came with her sons to make a request from Jesus saying, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.’ And Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking’. ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ ‘Very well,’ he said ‘you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.” 

So, other disciples became angry because James and his brother John, through the intercession of their mother, desired to have key leadership positions in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus. But Jesus let them know that the transcendent power and authority to lead belong to God and whoever He wishes to share it with. 

 

Here, Jesus prophesied that James and his brother John would "drink of the same chalice" of suffering as himself, since the two brothers had asked to be seated at his right and his left in his kingdom, and he told them that they would be with him in a far different way than they expected. 

Thus, James suffered martyrdom for the sake of the kingdom, for he was beheaded in Jerusalem at the orders of Herod Agrippa. His death is the only biblical record we have of the death of one of the Apostles, and he was the first to give his life for his Master. He embraces true greatness not by domination and subjection, but by service, sacrifice and dedication to the faith he has found in Jesus, which he wishes to share with others.

So, today we celebrate the feast of a great man, who, along with his brother John and Peter, was part of the inner circle of Jesus. So like St. James, we are encouraged to seek true greatness in humility of service and sacrifice even at the point of losing everything. 

St. Paul also encouraged us in our first reading to be steadfast for we are affiliated in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. Knowing that true greatness is found in humble service and not in domination or subjection of others. For good leaders serve the community, they subdue arguments and divisions, they maintain unity in times of distress and act as role models for the young just like St. James. 

Dear friends, today, we are all called to seek true greatness in humble service of others and not in domination. We are called to utilise the unique gift God has given us and use it to serve Him and our neighbours responsibly in any capacity we find ourselves, bearing in mind that one should not strive to be a leader but a servant because leadership is a gift from God. Remember, true greatness is found in our sacrificial service to others, not in competitive and comparative subjection and domination of others. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you have taught us that true greatness is found in the sacrificial service to humanity, give us the grace to live a life of sacrifice and humility. And through the intercession of St. James, may our lives be a good example of true greatness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful week.