Thursday 25 July

St James, Apostle

Corinthians 4:7-15; Psalm 126;
Matthew 20:20-28

Patience

Whenever, it seems, that Jesus prophecies his forthcoming passion and death his closest disciples miss the point or interrupt with an immediate, ‘oh, and by the way, response…!’ Jesus rebukes Peter. He chides the apostles for arguing about who is the greatest and, in today’s gospel, James and his brother are focussed entirely on heavenly rewards and future glory. It seems his closest disciples all have days when they have understood absolutely nothing! A disciple is one who learns. Let us pray for that gift of patient learning, especially when, like the closest disciples of Jesus, we completely misunderstand the point and power of God’s grace breaking into our hearts.