Feast of St James

Today our new Prime Minister has declared that his government will “make the UK the greatest country on earth” and that we are about to enter “a new Golden Age”. Why the childish need of populist leaders to be greater than everyone else? It’s embarrassing...

Today is the Feast of St James. James and his brother John were two of Jesus’ first disciples. On one occasion, James and John asked Jesus a favour. Well, they weren’t actually brave enough to ask, so they co-opted their mother to ask for them. They wanted, once Jesus was ‘in power’ to be the ones sat at his right and his left. To hold the senior posts in his cabinet.

Jesus asked them if they thought they were up to the job, a role they clearly didn’t grasp. When they confidently declared that they were up to the job, Jesus admitted that such posts weren’t his to offer; but that, yes, they would fulfil the responsibility...which, it turned out, was to lay down their life, their ambitions; in James’ case, to literally be executed not many years after Jesus.

When the other disciples heard of the brothers’ request, they were indignant. But Jesus was having none of that, either. Gathering them close, he spelled it out: the rulers of the nations proclaim their greatness, and dole out their patronage; but it is not to be so with you. Whoever would seek to be truly great must make themselves least of all.

And in the vandalism we are currently inflicting upon ourselves, we might just inadvertently end up least among the nations and, thus, ready to be greater than we ever knew possible...