THE SACRIFICE OF THE EARTHENWARE JARS


FEAST OF SAINT JAMES, APOSTLE

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

2 Cor 4:7-15; Ps 126:1-6; Mt 20:20-28

The heavenly Glory in earthenware Jars

As we celebrate the feast of the apostle St. James, considering the great height to which Jesus Christ calls each of us, St. Paul presents to us that the mortal body we carry is nothing but an earthenware jar. God pours the priceless glory of heavenly life into this weak and fragile container. This unfathomable glory comes to us through the word of God. The word of God is God and carries the presence of God into each soul that receives it with faith and joy. As we noted in yesterday’s reflection, what the prophets received as a special privilege in limited access, God has given us access without limit. This is a way to understand the singular privilege of the apostles of the Lamb. The Eternal Word assumed flesh and lived among us. The apostles had the rare privilege of being with him for three years of public ministry. The company of the Eternal Word they enjoyed made them into great shepherds of the flock of God. Today, we celebrate St. James, the brother of John, son of Zebedee, who laid down his life for the faith he professed in Jesus Christ our Lord.

The definite and ultimate sacrifice of our lives for the word of God, communicated to us by God, is the sum or cumulative end of what takes place daily in each Christian’s life. The generosity required for the seed to grow and its plentiful fruition, as our Lord’s parable of the Sower indicated yesterday, is what the sacrifice of our lives implies. Without the sacrifice of our mortal life, the immortal life of God contained in the word of God, as in a seed, will not germinate and come to fruition in us. This is the sentiment St. Paul expressed in this passage from his Second Letter to the Corinthians. “We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us.” Our faith in Jesus Christ keeps our resolution to die active in our body, for our spiritual gaze is fixed beyond the mortal realm by the same faith. The Holy Spirit generates spiritual life in us through our faith in Christ and readiness to die. “Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too, may be openly shown. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” This means that our continual yes to death results in heavenly life for the flock of Jesus Christ.

The apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ initially did not understand their heavenly vocation. So, they sought their selfish gratification in the company of Jesus Christ. “The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.’” The Lord used the moment to teach them the mysterious process of inheriting the heavenly life. “‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered. ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can.’” The Lord affirmed that they would drink his cup, for everyone called must drink the cup of the Lord. St. James was the first of the apostles to offer the ultimate sacrifice of his life as he agreed with the Lord. The cup of the Lord is the continual death we must die in union with the Holy Spirit, who makes the life of Jesus Christ grow to fruition in each of us. This continual death is symbolised and ritualised in the daily sacrifice of the Mass, which is the memorial of our Lord’s Passion. A Christian sows his life in tears and reaps in the spiritual joy of the Holy Spirit. “They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing: they come back, they come back, full of song, carrying their sheaves.”

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, who consecrated the first fruits of your Apostles by the blood of Saint James, grant, we pray, that your Church may be strengthened by his confession of faith and constantly sustained by his protection. 

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