Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Today we honor the feast of St. James the Great, and not to be confused with St. James de Lessa,
who was the first bishop of Jerusalem.
Here we are dealing with the son, the brother of St. John.
And so, with his brother, he received the nickname Boernerges from our Lord, Sons of Thunder.
But we must not think that our Lord was in some way condemning them,
for it was truly an affectionate name, because in today's gospel,
we reveal, is revealed the most outstanding characteristic of both James and his brother,
their singular devotion to the Lord.
They wished to do all things in his presence,
and even though they were misguided in seeking a particular place in the kingdom,
they did everything.
When the Lord came to call them, they dropped everything immediately,
departing from their very father in the midst of their fishing activity to follow the Lord.
They began as disciples of St. John the Baptist,
and truly they understood what St. John the Baptist,
was preparing for.
From the moment that the Lord called them,
they would show themselves completely devoted to him.
They would receive their nickname, Sons of Thunder,
when they wished to call down from heaven the thunder and lightning upon the enemies of Christ.
But our Lord, perhaps with a smile on his face,
would simply redirect their zeal,
so that ultimately, both of them would give their life for the kingdom of God and for the church.
St. James would suffer a modest death,
at the hands of St. John the Baptist,
at the hands of King Herod Agrippa,
who himself would stab this great apostle to death.
St. John, while not undergoing a strict modest death,
is considered to also have suffered a modest death,
because it was through a singular grace of God,
that he was preserved from a modest death,
when he was miraculously preserved after being thrown in a hot cauldron of oil.
And so, we have a great apostle today to call upon in our day and age.
For in St. James,
St. James is fulfilled truly what the Lord had promised his apostles.
What they have done to me, they will do to you.
And so, St. James would ultimately meet his death in this life,
at the hands of a leader of the people.
For they would not accept the doctrine of Christ,
and rather, they would try to impose their own doctrine on the people.
As our Lord said,
the rulers of this world seek to lord it over others.
And so, it is very important that we turn to this,
this saint in this day, in this age,
that he intercede for our society, and for our culture,
so bent as it were,
in seeming to depart from the teachings of Jesus Christ,
in order to exalt the wisdom of man.
But the wisdom of man is nothing in the sight of God,
and if we constantly beseech his warriors on this earth,
who now reign triumphant with him in heaven,
then they will intercede for us, and again, sanity,
will return to our society.
And indeed, let us always remember that sanity and sanctity are intimately related,
and they are even rooted in the same word,
sane, to cleanse.
And so, it is not up to mankind to simply be content in striving for human virtues.
That is the Freemasonic way of looking at things.
But in the Church, we understand there are no such things as secular saints.
There are no gurus in the secular world,
to whom we can turn in order to find the wisdom that will deliver us from our state,
that is, conceived in original sin,
affected both by original sin and our own personal sins,
and in dire need of the redemption of Christ.
Indeed, without the sacrifice of Christ,
there is no purpose for our going forward,
for we truly would have no hope of salvation.
But in the Incarnation,
St. James would come to know us,
St. James would come to know us,
St. James would come to know us,
St. James would come to know that greatest of all marvels
that was prophesied from the beginning of the fall of humanity
with our first parents, Adam and Eve,
when they were promised a Redeemer and a woman
who would come and crush the head of the serpent.
And so, St. James would come to know in a greater and greater way
every moment of his life after responding to the call of Christ,
that mystery of the Redeemer and His Most Holy Mother in the conquest of sin.
And ultimately, he would pay that ultimate price
not wishing to compromise the truths that Jesus Christ had given to him
and commanded him to go forth to the world and teach.
He would suffer that death at the hand of one of the worldly leaders.
And so, let us strive to turn to Him this day and this day and in this age
so that He may intercede for us,
so that truly mankind may come again to strive
for what St. James would strive for the whole of the rest of his life,
after being called by the Christ.
That is, he would strive for holiness, he would strive for sanctity,
he would strive for the very reason that we honor him today,
because he is a saint of Almighty God,
because he was triumphant in this life over the wiles of the serpent
and all those who follow the serpent,
so that his victory in this life transpired into that greatest of all victories for the soul,
where he now dwells as one of those blessed apostles,
who remained faithful to the Lord.
And let us always remember that the apostles were entrusted
with the guidance of the church militant.
And so, they are still very intimately involved in the church's journey in this life.
And so, let us truly turn to Him and to all the apostles this day,
asking them to beseech us, to beseech Almighty God,
that we remain faithful to their teachings.
And most especially, let us ask them to intercede for that man
whom also Saint James had a singular devotion to,
Saint Peter, whom him and his brother also worked with and labored with.
And so, in their singular devotion to Christ,
they were extraordinarily devoted to the Vicar of Christ.
And so, let us ask him to intercede for the Vicar of Christ,
that he may remain steadfast in the faith and defending the church,
especially in regards to those matters of faith and moral,
but most especially,
that through his ministry as the Vicar of Christ,
he may reach out to all the world,
and most especially to its leaders,
so that they may come to their senses and see in the Christ
what Saint James saw in the Christ,
the only hope for humanity,
the only hope for any semblance of peace in this life,
because he and he alone is the author of mercy,
and no mercy can be received by any human philosophy or any human way,
but it can only be received by God.
It can only be received by the divine way,
and the divine way is the way of Christ.
And so, let us truly be thankful that the Apostles,
as pillars and lights of the church,
are always there with their teachings,
always there with their intercession,
to keep us on the straight and narrow.
And let us also beseech Almighty God to rain down,
not the thunder and lightning that Saint James and Saint John would call,
but that mercy that they would come to call down upon this earth,
for the whole of the rest of their life.
Let us beseech that God will rain his mercy upon us,
upon our culture,
and upon our world,
so that it may truly come to its senses
and stop this maddening quest for some type of kingdom separated from Christ,
because a kingdom separated from Christ is not merely a human kingdom,
but it is a kingdom that is led by the infernal enemies of our soul,
that is, Satan himself.
If he does not manifest his face directly,
any opposition to Christ ultimately is led by Satan himself.
And so, as he continues to increase his grip on this world,
let us turn to those blessed Apostles
who loosened the grip of Satan on the chosen people
and on the Gentile world in that time,
so that they may help us to loosen that grip in our time.
And let us understand the situation,
for indeed we live in a time and a period
in which the grip of Satan on human society
is even greater, it seems,
than it was in the time of the Lord.
But as in the time of the Lord,
the answer is always the same,
that is, the teachings of the Apostles
in regards to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And so, we have much to rejoice for,
because in following the teachings of the Apostle,
we know we are in the safe haven,
the safe ship, that is,
the barque led by St. Peter,
the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
And so, let us strive with each fiber of our being
to draw all mankind, every single soul,
into the barque of Peter,
for Peter's ship has no limit,
it has the capacity to carry the whole of humanity
to the shores of eternity.
And so, we have much to rejoice for,
because in following the teachings of the Apostle,
we know we are in the safe haven,
the barque led by St. Peter,
the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
And so, let us strive with each fiber of our being
to draw all mankind,
the barque led by St. Peter,
the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
And so, let us strive with each fiber of our being
to draw all mankind,
to the shores of eternity.