7/25/2017 - St James the Greater - Matthew 20:20-28

      Back in 2002, I spent the summer studying in the countries of Chile and Argentina on a fellowship through the US Department of Education.  There were 15 teachers from throughout the country on this trip - an amazing experience that I still reflect upon today.  I met a husband and wife on that trip - Pam Davis and Rick Thompson - two Spanish teachers who were about my age who lived in the state of Maine.   They had spent extensive time in Spain, especially in the northeastern region of Galicia, where the city of Santiago de Compostela is located.   Several times, they encouraged me to look into doing the Camino.  They knew that I was thinking of becoming a Catholic priest, and thought the Camino would be something I would certainly enjoy.  When I got back to the US, I could not get the Camino out of my head.  I felt the call to go on the Camino, deciding to go that next summer.  At that time, I was teaching Spanish in Greenville in the Delta.  Little did I know, that not many years later, I would fulfill my dream of becoming a priest and would be the pastor of a parish in Tupelo named after St James the Greater, one of Christ’s original apostles.  Anyone who knows me as a priest knows of the love that I have for the community of saints.  The energy and the friendship I feel from our  our saints is one of the things I most love about our Catholic faith.  And saint James is one of those saints that so speaks to me and so speaks to so many people in our modern world, as evidenced by the popularity of his pilgrimage in Spain.   There are countless books and articles and blogs and movies and videos and podcasts all over the internet that are inspired by St James and his pilgrimage. The pilgrimages that I have gone on these past three winters on the Way of St James have given me the energy, inspiration, and renewal that I have needed in my priesthood. I think of this week in our humble parish here in Tupelo.  On the week we celebrate the feast of our patron saint, St James, we have a funeral, a pilgrimage walk, baptisms, first communions, confirmations, weddings, a quinceañera, and a youth mission experience.  It is our lives and our faith community in a microcosm.  And it certainly represents the missionary spirit of St James. One of the men who runs a traditional pilgrims’ hostel on the Camino is credited with this quote: “A tourist demands things, but a pilgrim gives thanks.” I give thanks for our parish of St James here in Tupelo today.  I give thanks for the Apostle, St James the Greater, who went beyond the request to be at the position of honor next to Jesus, to be a missionary of the Gospel message and to die a martyr’s death.  St James, may your prayers and intersessions reach out to us today.