Ambition is defined as strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. It is a good thing to have, depending on what we are ambitious for. St. James was ambitious, but not always for the Kingdom of God. His mother, St. Salome, once asked for the seats of honor for him and his brother, St. John, on the right and left of Jesus in the kingdom. This was an ambition for worldly glory that Jesus rejected for himself and his followers. Jesus' response was to remind them that glory in the Kingdom of God meant drinking of the cup that he drank from. The glory of God is about love and sacrifice and service.
St. James was able to drink of the cup of love, sacrifice, and service. He became the first apostle to be martyred, killed by King Herod. He belonged to the inner circle of Jesus' followers with St. Peter and St. John, witnessing the Transfiguration and being called to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane. As an apostle he was sent forth to preach. According to legend, St. James traveled to Spain and proclaimed the Gospel. The shrine at Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain is the site of relics thought to be his. It has been the site of a pilgrimage for about 1,000 years. Every year over a hundred thousand pilgrims travel there.
As we can see, ambition for God, for love, and its necessary elements of sacrifice and service, is worthy of our efforts. We are called to be zealous in our faith, share the Good News of salvation by our lives, our deeds, and our words, as St. James did.
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