On the right path amid difficulties

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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Feast of St. James the Greater, Apostle, 25 July 2023
2 Corinthians 4:7-15   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Matthew 20:20-28

Praise and glory to you, O God,
on this wondrous feast of
St. James the Greater,
the first of the Apostles to
follow the Cross of Jesus Christ
during the persecution of Christians
in Jerusalem by King Herod Agrippa
(Acts 12:1-2).

Together with his brother St. John,
St. James the Greater's path in
loving and following Jesus Christ
up to the Cross was not an easy one;
from a very materialistic and selfish
perception of the kingdom of God as
we heard in today's gospel,
St. James eventually journeyed
inside himself to become the first
to drink the chalice of the Lord's passion
after being present both at the
Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden.

St. James the Greater
eventually realized that 
even in difficulties,
we are on the right path 
in Jesus Christ,
with Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10

St. James the Greater,
Pray for us!
Amen.