Today is the Feast of Saint James the Greater.
According to the 1913 edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia, Saint James (and John, his brother) is a close blood relative of our Lord (a 1st or 2nd cousin), because their mother, Salome is probably the woman identified in John 19 as "...His [our Lord's] mother's sister." That would explain the prominence of James and John with Peter, as witnessed in the Gospels: e.g. Transfiguration and Gethsemani; and the various discussions about who is the greatest among them and who should have the first places in Christ's kingdom. It would also explain the special relationship which is historically evident between Saint James and our Lady (e.g. Nuestra Señora del Pilar) and our Lord's commendation of the Blessed Virgin to her own nephew.
Pope Benedict made his Papal pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle James during the 2010 Jubilee and spoke of the meaning of the pilgrimage experience.
He said: "In the secret of their heart, knowing it explicitly or sensing it without being able to express it, so many pilgrims,...as they walk the way to Santiago de Compostela to embrace the Apostle...experience...the Gospel...the path by which, in renouncing a selfish and short-sighted way of thinking so common today, and taking on instead Jesus' own way of thinking...attain fulfillment and become a seed[s] of hope. The fatigue of the journey, the variety of landscapes, their encounter with peoples of other nationalities--all of this opens their heart to what is the deepest and most common bond that unites us as human beings: we are in quest, we need truth and beauty, we need an experience of grace, charity, peace, forgiveness and redemption. And in the depth of each of us there resounds the presence of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. Yes, to everyone who seeks inner silence, who keeps passions, desires and immediate occupations at a distance, to the one who prays, God grants the light to find him and to acknowledge Christ. Deep down, all those who come on pilgrimage to Santiago do so in order to encounter God, who, reflected in the majesty of Christ, welcomes and blesses them as they reach the Portico de la Gloria." Zenit, 6 November 2010
