We celebrated St. James Patronal Festival
We were blessed to celebrate the feast of St. James, our patron saint at St. James Cathedral!
Thank you to all who joined us to celebrate this special date in the life of our parish.
We send a special shout-out to our staff, volunteers, and all the community members who helped make this possible. We thank the York Group for their generous donation for the barbecue!
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DID YOU KNOW?
ST. JAMES THE GREAT
The Bible mentions two Apostles with the name “James”: James, son of Zebedee, and James, son of Alphaeus (cf. Mk 3: 17,18; Mt 10: 2-3). They are commonly distinguished as “St James the Great” and “St James the Less”, not to give measure to their relative holiness, but simply to state the different emphases they receive in the Biblical story of Jesus’ earthly life.
The name “James” is the English translation of Iakobos, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Jacob. James was the brother of John who, together with Peter, were the three privileged disciples present at the event of Jesus’ Transfiguration, and at Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane – two situations very different from each other. In the Transfiguration, these Apostles experience the Lord’s glory. They see God’s splendour shining out in Jesus.
In the Agony of Gethsemane, the Apostles fi nd themselves face to face with suffering and humiliation. They see with their own eyes how the Son of God humbles himself, making himself obedient unto death. This experience was an opportunity for them to grow in faith, to discern that Christ’s glory was fulfilled precisely on the Cross, in his sharing in our sufferings.
James did not draw back when the moment of supreme witness came. As the Scriptures tell us, shortly after AD 40, King Herod Agrippa “had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword” (Acts 12: 1-2). But the witness of James remains to teach us: promptness in accepting the Lord’s call, enthusiasm in following him, and readiness to witness to him with courage.
St James the Great stands before us as an eloquent example of generous adherence to Christ. He who had aspired to be seated at the right hand of the Lord in his Kingdom was precisely the first to drink the cup of the passion by sharing martyrdom with the other Apostles. The journey of James from the mount of the Transfiguration to the mount of the Agony symbolizes the entire pilgrimage of our Christian life. In following Jesus the way James did, we can know that even in difficulties we are on the right path.
– Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church
