In today’s Angleus, Benedict continued his catechesis on the apostles, moving on to James:

“So we can learn many things from St James: readiness to welcome the call of the Lord even when he asks us to leave the ‘boat’ of our human securities, enthusiasm to follow him along the paths He indicates beyond our illusory presumptions, availability to testify to him with courage, and if necessary, to the point of the supreme sacrifice of one’s life. Thus James the greater comes before us as an eloquent example of generous adhesion to Christ. He, who wanted to sit with his brother besides the Teacher in his Kingdom, would be the first of the apostles to share his martyrdom.” The Pope added spontaneously: “Thus, James comes before us as an eloquent example of generous adhesion to Christ, and the journey – not only exteriorly but above all interiorly – from the mount of the Transfiguration to the agony, symbolizes the entire pilgrimage of the Christian life, between the persecutions of the world, and the consolations of God, as the Second Vatican Council said. Following Jesus as St James did, we know we will do well even in difficult times; that we are going down the right road.”