Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius November 12, 2017 Spiritual Ponderings Apostles
Let us continue to look deeper at the Apostles.
(3) James and John I love reflecting on the life of these two brothers and seeing the changes Jesus brings about in their lives. We know from the beginning that they both have fiery tempers (Mark 3:17). It appears that they also had a really hard time understanding Christ teaching about what it means to be great in the kingdom of God as they are power seekers (Matthew 20:19). In addition, they fell asleep in the garden despite being singled out for the special honor (Mark 14:33) and like the rest of the apostles, they abandon Jesus during His crucifixion although John did come back. Focusing on their sins and faults helps me become even more amazed at who they become because of their encounter with Christ. James becomes the first apostle martyr and John goes on to become the mystical evangelists who writes a Gospel, three letters, and the Book of Revelation. If God can transform them, I have hope that he can transform me into who I am supposed to be.
Prayer to St. James: O glorious Apostle, St. James, who by reason of thy fervent and generous heart was chosen by Jesus to be a witness of His glory on Mount Tabor, and of His agony in Gethsemane; Thou, whose very name is a symbol of warfare and victory: obtain for us strength and consolation in the unending warfare of this life, that, having constantly and generously followed Jesus, we may be victors in the strife and deserve to receive the victor's crown in heaven. Amen.
Prayer to St. John: O Glorious Saint John, you were so loved by Jesus that you merited to rest your head upon his breast, and to be left in his place as a son to Mary. Obtain for us an ardent love for Jesus and Mary. Let me be united with them now on earth and forever after in heaven.
Matthew/Levi When I reflect on the life of Matthew, I turn to a passage of Scripture that does not mention him. Instead I turn to John 12:3-6: “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one [of] his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.”
As I pray over this passage again and again, I realize that Matthew would have been the better choice to hold onto the common purse because as a tax collector he would have been good at matters dealing with money. I see Matthew not being in charge of the money as an example of someone choosing to avoid the near temptation of sin. Therefore, I ask Matthew to help me to avoid the near occasions of sin. I don’t ask him to help me avoid sin but I insist on him helping me avoid the near occasion of sin. Would Judas had become a traitor if he had followed Matthew’s example?
Prayer to St. Matthew O Glorious St. Matthew, in your Gospel you portray Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the Prophets of the Old Covenant and as the new Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant. Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in his Church and to follow his teachings in our lives on earth so that we may live forever with him in heaven.
James There is very little known about second James (a.k.a. James the Less) but this does not prevent him from being a role model for us through the grace of God. I have taken James as a model for me as an example of what it means to simply be a follower of Jesus humbly without looking for any sort of outside recognition. James was simply happy doing Jesus’ will and I pray to St. James the Less asking his help to have a servant heart’s that does not seek recognition.
Prayer to St. James the Less O Glorious St. James, you were our Lord's cousin and at the same time his friend and follower. You wrote that every good and perfect gift comes to us from the Father of lights, and that faith without works is useless. You preached the divinity of Jesus until your death as a martyr. Obtain for us from the Father of lights the great gift of a living faith in Jesus' divinity which will inspire us to unstinting labor in the service of God and our fellow human beings and enable us to reach our heavenly destiny.