Almighty God, you created us in your own image: Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and help us to use our freedom rightly in the establishment of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
James the Elder, son of Zebedee and brother of John, was one of the Twelve and the first of them to die for Christ. A Galilean fisherman called from his nets, he belonged with Peter and his brother to the inner circle of three who saw the Transfiguration and the agony in the garden. He once asked for a throne beside Christ in glory and was told instead that he would drink Christ's cup; he drank it first of all the apostles, beheaded in Jerusalem about the year 44.