SATURDAY, SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Feast of Saint James, Apostle
2 Cor 4: 7-15 Ps 126: 1-6 Mt 20: 20-28
YOUR GREATNESS COMES FROM GOD
Human Being is the crown of God’s creation. In a sense, the human person is great! But what makes a person truly great is not what one is born with, wealth, talent, or inherited advantage, but what one does with what has been received. True greatness lies in humility: the inner recognition that we are not great in ourselves, but that our greatness flows from God, from others, and from the communities that have shaped us. It is from this place of dependence that genuine fruitfulness becomes possible, enabling us to serve generously, love selflessly, and contribute meaningfully to the flourishing of the world around us.
The first reading makes this vividly clear. St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that each of us carries a great treasure, fragile and not to be neglected. Yet in the face of persecution, hardship, apparent failure, and the threat of death, they are neither destroyed nor abandoned. They grow stronger. The secret is not self-reliance but total surrender to the will of God. Paul’s message is clear: our weakness is the very vessel through which God’s power is revealed. He would say, When I am weak, then I am strong! (2 Cor 12:10) Alongside this total surrender comes a second quality: ardent zeal to belong to God and do God’s work. St. James embodies this perfectly.
When Jesus speaks of the chalice he must drink, James responds with extraordinary eagerness; he is ready to share that very cup, even to the point of death. History confirms this: James became the first of the apostles to be martyred for Christ. His life was not merely words; it was a witness. These two qualities, humble dependence on God and burning love for God, are not optional characteristics in the life of a Christian. They lie at the heart of Christian discipleship. Let us ask ourselves: Are we truly willing to accept that our lives are entirely a gift from God? Knowing this, do we live with the responsibility to bear fruit as God desires?
Response: Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Copyright ©2026 ©Springs of Living Water http://springs.carmelmedia.in