Tuesday May 3, 2022

STS. PHILIP AND JAMES THE LESSER, Apostles, Feast            

We honor today two apostles: Philip was one of the first disciples to be called by Jesus. James the lesser, brother of the apostle Jude, succeeded Peter as the head of the Church in Jerusalem and authored one of the epistles. Apostles are people who have to witness to others that the Lord is truly risen. They have to announce it all the world.

To them Jesus is also the way to God, the way to the Father. If they have seen Jesus, they have seen the Father and do know him. We too have the task of testifying to the risen Lord at least by our Christian living.

 

Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time— this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this for good and holding fast.)

The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive to me.

 

Gospel: John 14:6-14

Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

Philip said, “Master, show us the Father; then we’ll be content.”

 “You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.

 “Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
we praise and thank you on the feast
of your apostles Philip and James.

Through them many have come to know
that Jesus is alive and risen.

May we too be good witnesses
to the risen Jesus
by the way we live his risen life,
even though we are flawed and weak,
that people may find through us
the way to the Father of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Lord, Show us the Father!

Today we remember two of the apostles: Philip and James. In the first chapter of John, Jesus addresses Philip, a fisherman, in Galilee: “Follow me.” He does not want to follow him alone! He goes and finds his friend, Nathanael, and tells him: “we have found the one, who Moses wrote about in the law”. And he goes on to insist Nathanael to “Come and see” (Jn 1:43-51).

Philip would appear again before the Lord performs the sign of feeding the five thousand (Jn 6:5-7) and expresses his helplessness – ‘even 200 days’ salary would not suffice to buy enough food for these people’ – he reasons out. Perhaps this is what the evangelist wanted to highlight… God’s providential care in the midst of desperate helplessness of humankind. God the father cares for his people. He loves his children.

Today’s passage begins with a self-definition of Jesus: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” God’s self-revelation with Moses was the beginning of this pattern, when God revealed himself to Moses and said: “I am who I am …” In the New Testament, Jesus continues that pattern: “I am the vine and you are the branches;” “I am the good Shepheard;” “I am the gate;” “I am the light of the world;” and “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” Today he adds to that list of “I am…”

In today’s gospel, Philip has one request “Lord, show us the father and that is enough.” And Jesus teaches him and us the way to see the Father: “No one comes to the Father, except through me.” Those who follow Jesus, see the face of God the Father. In other words, the face of the Father in heaven is revealed to the humankind through the person of Jesus. Jesus’ love, mercy and compassion revealed the nature of God the Father. That’s why Jesus says, “Whoever sees me, sees the Father.”

Through his life and death Jesus revealed to the world the possibilities and the power of the love of God. There is no other way to know the Father than by adopting the way of Jesus – the way of sacrificial love.

We say: “practice makes perfect.” The same happens to us on the path of following Jesus. That is why Pope Francis says: “I invite you to meet the Lord by reading the Word of God frequently. If you are not used to it yet, start with the Gospels. Read a passage each day. Let the Word of God speak to your hearts, let it be light for your steps,” and guide us to the Father. Let us make the desire of Philip, our prayer: “Lord, Show us the Father and that is enough.”

 

Video available on Youtube: Lord, Show us the Father!