Hearth & Altar

James and his brother John had a mother who wanted the best for them. She walked right up to Jesus and asked him to give her sons the seats of honor in his kingdom - one on his right, one on his left. It's a very parent thing to do. Jesus didn't embarrass her or scold her. He just asked her sons a question: can you drink the cup I am going to drink?

They said yes before they understood what they were agreeing to. James drank it first - he was the first apostle to be killed for following Jesus, probably within fifteen years of saying yes. He had asked for a seat and got a cup instead. And the cup turned out to be the way to everything his mother was asking for.

Paul puts it this way: we hold this treasure in earthen vessels - cracked, ordinary clay pots - so that the power is obviously God's and not ours. The cracking is part of the point.

• For our family, that we would be willing to say yes to the cup even when we don't fully understand what we're agreeing to, we pray to the Lord.
• For the children in our family, that their yes to God would be a real yes that holds when it gets hard, we pray to the Lord.
• On the feast of Saint James, for pilgrims and travelers, and for all who are on a journey of faith they don't fully understand yet, we pray to the Lord.
• For those in our family who are sowing in tears right now, that they would come back with sheaves, we pray to the Lord.

Tell your children about James today. He asked for the best seat and got a cup instead - and the cup turned out to be the greatest honor. Ask them: what do you think it means to be great in God's kingdom? See what they say before you explain Paul's answer.

If anyone in the family has ever walked the Camino de Santiago, or if you have a Santiago scallop shell or pilgrim image in the house, bring it out. Tell the story of a million pilgrims walking to James's shrine across a thousand years.

James said yes before he understood it. Most of our yeses to God are like that. The question is not whether we knew what we were getting into - we didn't. The question is whether the yes holds when the cup arrives. That is what you are forming in your children right now.