16th Week of Ordinary Time C – Friday – Feast of Saint James, Apostle
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, peace be with you. Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint James the Apostle, known traditionally as James the Greater—not because he was more important than the other James, but likely because he was called earlier or was physically taller. This James was the brother of John the Evangelist, and together they were the sons of Zebedee. They worked as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee until Jesus called them to follow Him. Along with Peter, James and John formed a kind of inner circle among the Twelve Apostles. They alone were present at some of the most intimate moments in Jesus’ ministry: the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the Transfiguration, and the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.