Remembering James

On this THIRD day of Christmas, I would like to remember the young 6-year-old, James.  When I asked the boys who we should choose today, they all agreed he should be the one whose life we should celebrate.  I was surprised and asked why...Sean told me it was because today is the feast day set aside for St. John the Evangelist and his brother was James.  It sounded like a good reason to me...especially when I think about the role some say John personified in the Gospels as the beloved disciple.  I am sure James would be considered one of God's Beloved.

You see...from what we read about James, he was so loved by everyone who met him.  When his family was asked to describe him they mentioned his love for anything related to the outdoors as well as sports.  His ability to swim like a fish was especially noted.  He sounds like he was an all around boy ready for adventure...with his love for video games, tractors, and food (with our house full of boys that made sense to them!).  However, he also had a joy of more academic undertakings, such as music and numbers.

I cannot even imagine losing a son who was so dear to his parents and a brother who loved most of all to dote on his sister, Anna.  They spoke of James as their "beloved Prince."  I can imagine that he was called this because he showed the qualities of a true gentleman.  They spoke about his desire to please others with kind acts and gift giving.

I have never read such a loving remembrance and if you have a desire to read more about James, I encourage you to read it.  As I read it myself, I could not help but cry knowing that the world needs more children like James.  May God bless his parents and sister as they grieve his loss...May James rest in peace in the arms of Jesus.

The quilt we are making for James tries to show at least a small glimpse of all of these ideas.  Some how we imagined that this quilt should capture the action of a fish swimming in water...the other interests he held on this earth would flow like water around the fish...As we looked at the design later, we noticed that James must represent the fish leading the way with his kindness.  We obviously did not know James personally, so I wonder if his kindness helped others to see him as a leader who could lead the way.

On this third day of Christmas, we continue our understanding of the Christian themes of the popular song...We found out that the three French hens were considered valuable poultry that would only be purchased by the wealthy.  The symbolism of these birds recalls the three gifts of the Wise men....gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:10-11).

With St. John the Evangelist's feast day today, we also bring to mind two themes of interest.  First, John is often called the Beloved Disciple of Jesus (although I took a class once that suggested the Beloved was actually Lazarus...another blog post some day)...When reading the Gospel of John, I have always suggested we place ourselves in the stories that speak of this Beloved...not to be puffed up in a position of fame, but to consider what would make us a Beloved Disciple of Jesus.  Did John DO something to make him the Beloved?  He believed....he had faith...he followed...In so doing, we too can be numbered among Jesus' beloved disciples.

Then, the other theme that comes to mind on this feast day...John is known as the Evangelist...writing the Gospel that focuses on God's love, it is probably the most popular of all the Gospels.  When I think about John, I cannot help but think about how he spread the message of Good News to all the world through his writing, but also through his actions.  The only one of the 12 Apostles who did not die a martyr's death, but was exiled.  Jesus told him that he would see the Second Coming...little did John know that meant he would receive the Revelation of this glorious event and write this message for all of us to have this prophetic message revealed.  It makes me realize that we need to be open to God's plans...our ideas might not be what God has in mind.  Imagine if John had that vision and stubbornly said he would wait around for the real thing.  How many times do we do that...wait around for our version of the plan to come together and miss God's plan in our lives?  May St. John be an example to us to stay focused and evangelize to the world through our actions and obedience to God's plan!