One Minute Reflection – 25 July – “How shall I repay the Lord?”

One Minute Reflection – 25 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – The Memorial of St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ, Readings:  2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Psalm 126, Matthew 20:20-28

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“Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” … Matthew 20:28

REFLECTION – “How shall I repay the Lord?” (Ps 115[116B],12)   Not with holocausts or sacrifices or the observances of the legal cult but with my whole life itself.   And this is why, says the psalmist, “The cup of salvation I will take” (v.13).   The labour he underwent in the struggles of his filial devotion to God and the constancy with which he resisted sin even to death – this is what the psalmist calls his cup.

It was concerning this cup that our Lord Himself expressed Himself in the Gospels :   “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Mt 26:39).   And again, to His disciples:  “Can you drink the cup that I shall drink?”   He intended to speak of that death He desired to suffer, for the salvation of the world.   Therefore, He says:  “The cup of salvation I will take up,” namely, my whole being is reaching out, parched, towards the consummation of martyrdom, even to the point of holding the torments endured, in the struggles of filial love as rest and not as suffering, for soul and body.   I too, He says, will offer Myself to the Lord as a sacrifice and oblation. …   And I am ready to pay these vows before all the people, for:  “My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all his people!” (v.14).” … St Basil the Great (330-379) Monk and Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Father & Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – Lord our God, You accepted the sacrifice of St James, the first of Your Apostles to give his life for Your sake.   May Your Church find strength in his martyrdom and support in his constant prayer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.   St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ, Pray for us! Amen