Today the church remembers Saint James the Apostle.

James and his brother, John, were young fishermen, the sons of Zebedee and his wife, Salome. Salome was a sister of Mary, the Mother of our Lord, making James a first cousin to Jesus. James and his brother were high-spirited and hot-tempered young men. Jesus called them the “Sons of Thunder.” Jesus seems to have been particularly fond of these somewhat rowdy companions. They, with Peter, were present at the Transfiguration. They certainly must have aggravated the other disciples when they asked to sit on either side of the Lord when he came into his kingdom. Furthermore, this request showed little insight into Jesus’ teaching. Jesus rebuked them and used the occasion to try to prepare them for the suffering which was to come. James was to have but a brief ministry. He was soon brutally martyred by King Herod.

Read the Wikipedia article here.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Back to the Calendar page.