How is St. Jacob an example for us today?

Importance of Family

Our town or region may not compare to 1800s Alaska, but there are plenty of lessons to be learned from St. Jacob that can be applied to any situation. Though little is made of it, St. Jacob’s relationship with his family seems to be key. He sailed to his first parish in Atka, his own mother’s villiage, with his wife and father. This simple fact challenges our modern, individualistic and independent thinking.

Limitless Travelling

It would be hard to find a page of St. Jacob’s journals that does not include travel in some form. Not to say that travel is the lesson we need to learn...maybe the opposite. And also not to encourage our modern propensity to extend ourselves beyond all healthy boundaries in the pursuit of achievement at work. Here is a man who would travel for months on the open sea, or on foot or sled to reach interior villages, not for personal glory, nor for good pay, but solely to fulfill the call of the gospel.

The Love of the People

It is clear that Alaska's peoples loved him. This one fact is probably the most telling of St. Jacob’s whole story: revealing what kind of man he was and why he was so effective. He has more concern for them than for himself and his own comfort.

Dr. David Ford has this to say:

"Although settling on the coast of the Bering Sea would have given him considerably more access to the outside world, he gained permission from Bishop Innocent to set up his headquarters in the village of Ikogmiut (now known as Russian Mission), on the Yukon River about 150 miles inland, in order to have much greater opportunity for contact with the tribal people of the interior."

And Fr. Michael Oleksa picks up on a beautiful details, one time, when he was returning home:

"Local Yup’iks prevented their pastor from attempting such a long journey with so few supplies and furnished him with several more dogs and additional food. Several hunters accompanied him to the coast to assure his safe arrival."

When the people are so concerned for their pastor, it is a sign of the mutual love that should exist in such relationships. Next time, we will see how aware St. Jacob was of his flock.