Homily | July 25, 2026 | Saint James And The Camino Of Conversion | (Episode 208)

When most people think of Saint James the Apostle, they think of one thing the Camino de Santiago.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walk across northern Spain to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the church has venerated his relics for centuries.

Some walk for spiritual renewal, others for healing, some are searching for God, others are searching for themselves.

But before Saint James became the patron saint of pilgrims, he first had to become a pilgrim of conversion.

In fact, if you read the gospels carefully, James was not always the saint we imagine.

He was ambitious, he was impulsive, he had a fiery temper.

Jesus even gave him and his brother John a nickname Sons of Thunder.

At one point they wanted to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village because it had rejected Jesus.

Now that hardly sounds like a saint.

But today's gospel we find another revealing moment.

Their mother approaches Jesus with a bold request.

Command that these two sons of mine sit one at your right and the other on your left in your kingdom.

She wants places of honor, she wants greatness, she wants influence for her sons.

The other apostles become indignant, not because they are humble, but probably because they wanted those places for themselves.

But notice what Jesus does.

He does not condemn the desire for greatness.

Instead, he completely redefines it.

He says, Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.

That sentence changed history.

Before Christ, greatness was usually measured by power, by wealth, by military victories, by political influence.

The more people served you, the greater you were.

The greater you were considered.

But Jesus turns the entire world upside down.

In his kingdom, greatness is measured by how many people, how many people you serve?

The greatest person in the room is the one who loves the most.

The greatest leader is the one willing to wash feet.

The greatest disciples is the one willing to carry the cross.

But then Jesus asks James a question that becomes the turning point of his life.

Can you drink of the chalice that I'm about to give you?

Can you drink from the chalice that I'm going to drink from?

James answers immediately, we can.

But I wonder if he understood what he was saying.

The chalice Jesus speaks about is not first the Eucharistic chalice, it is the chalice of his passion, the chalice of suffering, the chalice of complete self-giving.

James says yes before he understands the cost.

Years later, after Pentecost, he would discover exactly what that yes required.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, James becomes the first of the twelve apostles to be martyred.

Around the year forty-four, King Herod, Agrippa, ordered him to be executed by the sword.

Think about that transformation.

The ambitious young man who once sought a throne became the apostle who willingly embraced the cross.

The son of thunder became a faithful witness.

The man who wanted glory discovered that true glory passes through sacrifice.

That's why the first reading is so beautiful today.

Saint Paul writes, We hold these treasures in earthen vessels.

What is the treasure?

Well, it's the life of Christ.

What is the earthen vessel?

We are.

Us.

We are fragile, we become sick, we grow tired, we experience fear, we carry wounds.

Yet God deliberately chooses fragile people to carry his gospel.

Why?

Well, he says so that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.

God has never waited for perfect people.

He works through ordinary people who are willing to say yes over and over again.

James was not chosen because he was already a saint.

He became a saint because he kept allowing Christ to transform him.

That should give every single one of us hope.

Because sometimes we think our weaknesses disqualify us.

I'm too impatient, I have failed too many times, I have far too great of weakness, I'm not holy enough, I don't know enough.

Well, James would understand every one of those excuses.

Yet Christ saw not only who James was, he saw who James could be, and he sees the same in all of us.

Perhaps that's why the Camino has captivated so many people.

It's not simply a walk across Spain.

It's a reminder that the Christian life itself is a pilgrimage.

No one becomes holy overnight.

We stumble, we get back up, we grow, we learn, we keep walking.

James did not become a saint in a single moment.

He became a saint by following Christ one faithful step at a time, until that final step led him to martyrdom.

Today Jesus asked each one of us a very same question he asked James, can you drink the chalice that I'm going to drink from?

Most of us, that will not mean shedding our blood.

Will mean dying of selfishness, choosing to forgive over resentment, serving when no one notices, remaining faithful when life becomes difficult, loving when it costs us something.

That's the chalice every Christian is asked to drink.

And if we drink it with Christ, then one day we will also share in his resurrection.

For the road to greatness has never changed.

It is still the road that Saint James walked.

It's the road of humble service.

It's the road of the cross.

It's the road that, in the end, always leads to the glory of Easter.

Amen.