This story from today’s Gospel about the mother of James and John approaching Jesus and asking Him to allow her sons to sit at His right and left, shows just how misunderstood Jesus was by even some of His closest disciples. So many of them initially believed that Jesus was going to be a political Messiah, someone who was coming to save the Chosen People from the slavery and oppression that had been inflicted upon them by the Roman occupiers of their land. As Christians, we know that Jesus didn’t come to settle a political score…He came to settle a spiritual one. He came to save, not only the Jewish people, but the entire human race from slavery to sin and death. He came to open the door for us to salvation, making it possible for us to dwell with the Father for all Eternity.

And yet, despite knowing that, so many of us – really all of us, in some way – find ourselves falling into the same trap that the mother of James and John fell into. So often we, too, misunderstand Jesus. Each of us has somewhat unique reasons for why that happens. It could be something as simple as not having a deep enough relationship with the Lord that leads to that. Or it could be something that has a little more depth behind it. For instance, maybe we don’t want Jesus to be the Savior of a certain part of our hearts – where that comes from is likely a place of hurt, where our hearts have been wounded by some experience or some sin or some other person. Whatever the case is, anytime we misunderstand the Lord, it’s connected to something within our spiritual lives.

All of us are in different places when it comes to our relationships with the Lord. We’re all in different places with our spiritual lives, with how much we pray, how we pray, etc. That’s what makes our faith so beautiful, because the Lord doesn’t have a set pattern necessarily that He follows. He speaks to us individually and uniquely. He loves us each uniquely. But He does want all of us to trust Him. He wants all of us to welcome Him into our hearts so that He can walk with us and accompany us as we strive for Heaven.

Today on this Feast of St. James, let’s ask the Lord for the grace of courage to share with Him those areas of our hearts that we might be hesitant to invite Him into, to open our hearts to being receptive to how the Lord might want to go deeper with us in relationship. The Lord wants us to recognize Him for who He truly is: the Savior of our hearts, the lover of our souls. He is our Messiah. Let’s not hold anything back from Him.

Image: Le Christ rencontrant la femme et les fils de Zébédée (circa 1565), Paolo CALIARI dit VERONESE. In Museo di Grenoble. Used under Public Domain.