An Ambition Worth Aspiring To

Long before Martin Sheen made it fashionable, the Camino de Santiago was one of the best known and well-travelled pilgrimage routes in the world. It has been a continuous site of Catholic pilgrimage since at least the 9th-century discovery of the relics of Saint James the Apostle, after which the Basilica of Santiago de Compostela has been one of the favored destinations of pilgrims from all over the Christian world. Sadly, I myself have never made the Camino, but I have been to Compostela with pilgrims from this parish, had the privilege of celebrating Mass there, and hugging Santiago’s statue (photo) as pilgrims traditionally do.

The New Testament tells us nothing about Saint James' eventual journey to Spain. The Gospels do tell us that, along with his brother John, James was one of Jesus’ earliest disciples and a member of the smaller inner circle that witnessed both the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden. The Gospels also give us this famous account of James and John’s ambition and the jealousy it provoked among the other apostles.

In today’s Gospel [Matthew 20:17-28], Jesus has again told his disciples what lies in store for him in Jerusalem. The first time he did this, Peter had tried to talk him out of it, prompting both a severe reprimand and a no-nonsense instruction on what being a disciple really means. The second time, the disciples they argued among themselves about which was the greatest. When asked what they’d been arguing about, their silence suggested at least some sense of embarrassment. Here, however, with no hint of embarrassment, two of Jesus’ most favored disciples (and thus the ones most especially susceptible to a sense of entitlement) request that they be given the best seats in the kingdom. 

Not surprisingly, the other 10 quickly became indignant. Apparently, they were not so thrilled with the particular status hierarchy favored by James and John. Jealousy (as Britain’s Queen Alexandra supposedly said 113 years ago) is the source of so many problems in life. The 10’s jealous indignation in turn prompted yet another much needed instruction from Jesus, clarifying both what his life is about and what the life of any would-be disciple must be about.

What makes this story so wonderful is the brilliant way Jesus handled his hard-to-teach disciples – both the two ambitious brothers and the ten jealous others. Jesus was obviously a very good teacher. He recognized his disciples’ natural ambition. Rather than condemning that, he affirmed their ambition and gave it completely new content.

You want to be great; Jesus says to his disciples. OK, then, be great – but not by imitating all those rich and prominent people you all admire and envy so much, but by imitating me. For “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” How’s that for an ambition to aspire to, an accomplishment to envy?

According to Acts, James was the first of the Apostles to be martyred – in the year 42. So obviously he took Jesus’ lesson to heart.

If following Jesus is to have any real meaning, Jesus is telling us, then it must be different with us from the way it is with the rest of the world. By his own life – and above all by his death – Jesus illustrated that by showing how different it is with him from the way it tends to be with us. Our task is not to analyze the world, which is just being the way the world is, but to change the world – but to do so by letting Jesus first change us.

Homily for the feast of Saint James the Apostle, Saint Paul the Apostle Church, New York, July 25, 2023.