Hamle 18 — July 25

Saint James, the Bishop of Jerusalem

Today we remember Saint James, who grew up in the same house as our Lord Jesus when Jesus was a little boy living with Joseph the carpenter. Because they grew up together, people lovingly called James "the brother of our Lord." James loved God with his whole heart.

Jesus' closest helpers, the apostles, chose James to be the bishop of Jerusalem, the kind leader who takes care of God's people and teaches them. James taught many, many people to love Jesus, and he baptized them.

God worked through James in ways that amazed everyone. Once, James met a man on the road who was troubled by an evil spirit. James simply prayed and told the spirit to go away, and it left at once, because God is always stronger than anything evil. The happy man brought James into his home, and James taught his whole family about Jesus and baptized them all. Then the people brought everyone who was sick, and James prayed, and God made them well!

Another time, a woman who had no children asked James to pray for her. He prayed, and soon God gave her a baby boy. She was so thankful that she named her son James, too.

Some people did not believe that Jesus was God's Son. James bravely told them the truth: that Jesus is truly God. This made them angry, and they hurt him, and James died still loving God. He had lived a simple, gentle life of prayer, always close to God.

James was called the brother of our Lord, because he grew up in the same house as Jesus.

Saint Athanasius, the Faithful Friend of Jesus

On this day we also remember Saint Athanasius (say it: ath-a-NAY-shus), who lived long ago and came from a family of kings. He loved Jesus very much and was strong in his faith.

In those days, some wicked rulers wanted everyone to bow down to idols, the statues that people worshiped instead of the true God. The rulers made Athanasius a governor, an important leader, over the land of Egypt. But Athanasius would not bow to any statue. He went straight to the holy archbishop, Abba Peter, and told him happily, "I am a Christian!"

When a soldier came to question him, he asked Athanasius to give up his faith. Athanasius answered bravely that he had loved Christ since he was young and would never stop. He was not afraid.

Before the end, Athanasius prayed a beautiful prayer. He asked God to give peace to the Church, to comfort God's people, and to keep his country safe. Then he went home to God, and God healed and helped many people there to show how much He loved His faithful friend.

Athanasius teaches us to be brave and to stay close to Jesus, no matter what.

From the time I was young I have loved Christ, and I will never leave my faith.— Saint Athanasius

More Friends of God We Remember Today

On this day we also remember some other faithful friends of God: a saint named Edrona (also called Endoran), a saint named Tobia, a great company of soldiers from a city called Antioch who followed a leader named Isidore, and a governor named Andronicus and his army.

All of these brave people loved God and stayed faithful to Him. We thank God for them and ask them to pray for us, so that we can be faithful and kind like they were.