A Wounded Healer-HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (FEAST OF ST. JAMES 25TH JULY 2023

A Wounded Healer-HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (FEAST OF ST. JAMES 25TH JULY 2023

2Cor.4:7-15; Ps.125; Matthew 20:20-28

A Wounded Healer

Every good thing comes from God. To maintain this consciousness in men, God continues to use weak but docile vessels to carry out his mission. Today we celebrate the feast of St. James the greater. His first encounter with Jesus was when Jesus called him and his brother to himself and they obeyed, leaving their father Zebedee and their fishing occupation. It was a movement from the known to the unknown (sacrifice of comfort), as it is typical of every call of God.

In the gospel reading, the Mother of James and John brought the children and asked for privileged seats in the kingdom that Jesus was going to establish. Although Jesus does not exactly grant this request, James and John together with Peter were already close companions of Jesus as shown in the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31), the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:35-43), the Transfiguration and Jesus’ agony at the garden. Belongingness to Jesus does not come by lobbying or self-qualification but as a grace of God. God calls us; we do not call God.

When we see and hear of people trying to cut corners in order to occupy offices in the Church, or when people begin to envy and make things unnecessarily difficult for those who occupy offices in the Church, we see a lack of understanding. God does not call us to occupy offices but to serve. True Service is not dependent on positions but a loving heart. James left everything and followed Jesus, served him with his life and became the first apostle to be martyred.

Till today, service and martyrdom are intrinsically connected to God’s call. Those who qualify themselves to answer God’s call, do so with a sense of entitlement. For such mentality, service and martyrdom means a loss. St. Paul tells us in today’s first reading that the challenges we face in bearing Christ’s name in part of our identity as Christian missionaries. Therefore, a life of sacrifice without a sacrifice is a contradiction. The first sacrifice we must make is to overcome our weaknesses.

Beloved, the life of St. James calls us to think twice whenever we may be nursing the desire to serve God. God calls us into a battle field but guarantees victory for us. If we cannot afford to be injured, then we cannot afford to answer God’s call. If a disciple of Christ must be able to heal, he/she must also be ready to be wounded; a wounded healer.