Feast
of Saints Philip and James, Apostles
Lectionary: 561
Lectionary: 561
I am
reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers and sisters at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers and sisters at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 19:2-3, 4-5
R.
(5) Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day;
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day;
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 14:6B, 9C
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord;
Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord;
Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 14:6-14
Jesus
said to Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
Meditation: "Lord, show us the
Father"
What's the greatest
thing we can aim for in this life? - To know God. What is the best thing we can
possess in this life, bringing more joy, contentment, and happiness, than
anything else? - Knowledge of God. Thus says the Lord: "Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty glory in his might, let
not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this,
that he understands and knows me" (Jeremiah 9:23-24). One of the
greatest truths of the Christian faith is that we can know the living God. Our
knowledge of God is not simply limited to knowing something about God, but we
can know God personally. The essence of Christianity, and what makes it
distinct from Judaism and other religions, is the personal knowledge of God as
our Father.
Jesus makes it possible
for each of us to personally know God as our Father. To see Jesus is to see
what God is like. In Jesus we see the perfect love of God - a God who cares
intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying
down his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is the revelation of God - a God
who loves us unconditionally - without reservation, unselfishly - for our sake
and not his, and perfectly - without neglecting or forgetting us even for a
brief moment. Jesus promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when we
pray in his name. That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with
confidence, Our Father who art in heaven ..give us this day our daily
bread (Matthew 6:9,11; Luke 11:2-3). Do you pray to
your Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for you?
"Lord Jesus, you
fill us with the joy of your saving presence and you give us the hope of
everlasting life with God our Father in Heaven. Show me the Father that I may
know and glorify him always."
Daily Quote from the
early church fathers: All nature serves for our instruction, by
Leo the Great, 400-461 A.D.
"All nature serves
the Word of God for our instruction. Through all the turning points of the
year, as if through the four Gospels, we learn from the unceasing trumpet both
what we should preach and what we should do... What is there through which the
truth does not speak to us? Its voice is heard in the day, it is heard in the
night, and the beauty of all things, established by the work of one God, does
not cease to put into the ears of our hearts a ruling order, to let us see the
'invisible things of God through those which have been made intelligible to
us,' and it is subject not to the creatures but to the Creator of all
things."(excerpt
from Sermon 19,2)
FEAST OF SAINTS PHILIP
AND JAMES
TUESDAY, MAY 3, JOHN 14:6-14
JOHN 14:6-14
(1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Psalm 19)
TUESDAY, MAY 3, JOHN 14:6-14
JOHN 14:6-14
(1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Psalm 19)
KEY VERSE: Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6).
TO KNOW: Jesus told his disciples that he was the "way" to God's "truth and life" (v.6). When Philip asked for some manifestation of the Father, Jesus told him that if he really understood who he was, he would "see" the Father. Jesus was the flesh and blood revelation of God. His words and works were not his alone; they came from his unity with the Father. If Jesus' disciples could not believe what he told them, then at least they should believe in the deeds that he did. He promised that those who had faith in him would be empowered by the Spirit to do even greater works than he had done. When Jesus returned to the Father, he would continually intercede on their behalf (Ro 8:34; Hb 4:14 - 5:10).
TO LOVE: Do I hand on the faith that I have received, just as the apostles did in their time?
TO SERVE: St. Philip and St. James, pray that the Church will have the grace to accomplish Christ's works on earth as you did.
FEAST OF SAINTS PHILIP
AND SAINT JAMES, APOSTLES
Philip was born in Bethsaida, Galilee, and may have been a disciple of Saint John the Baptist. Philip was called by Jesus Himself (Jn 1:43-48) on the day after Peter and Andrew and began his evangelizing efforts by bringing Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to Jesus. When Nathaniel asked, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" He appealed for a personal inquiry: "Come and see" (Jn 1:43). Philip was present at the miracle of the loaves and fishes (6:1-15), and was the Apostle approached by the Hellenistic Jews from Bethsaida to introduce them to Jesus (12:21ff). Just before the Passion, Jesus answered Philip's query to show them the Father (14:8ff), but no further mention of Philip is made in the New Testament beyond his listing among the apostles awaiting the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room (Acts 1:13). According to tradition, Philip preached in Greece and was crucified at Hierapolis in Phrygia under Emperor Domitian, c. 80 AD.
The names "James the Less" or "James the Younger" is usually applied to James the son of Alphaeus (Mk 15:40). He was favored by an appearance of the Risen Christ (I Cor 15:7). After the dispersion of the Apostles he was made Bishop of Jerusalem. He was visited by St. Paul (Gal 1:19), and spoke after Peter at the meeting of the Apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13). A tradition said that when James was ninety-six years old and had governed the Church for thirty years in a most holy manner, he refused to deny the Divinity of Christ. He was cast down from the terrace of the temple and clubbed to death. The Breviary contains a very moving description of his death. "As he lay there half dead, with legs broken by the fall, he lifted his hands toward heaven and prayed to God for the salvation of his enemies, saying: Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do! While the apostle was still praying, a fuller struck his head a mortal blow." His relics now rest next to those of St. Philip in the church of the Holy Apostles in Rome, and their names are mentioned in the first list in the Canon of the Mass.
NATIONAL TEACHER DAY
National Teacher Day is always celebrated the first Tuesday of the first full week of May. This day focuses on the contributions teachers make to help children succeed in school and in life. An Arkansas teacher, Mrs. Mattye Whyte Woodridge, began corresponding with political and education leaders as early as 1944 about the need for a national day honoring teachers. One of the leaders she wrote to was Eleanor Roosevelt, who persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day in 1953. Teachers are true heroes in our communities, who through their dedication to children, work millions of small miracles every day. This day honors those hard working, patient and understanding people to whom we entrust our children. So let's give them their due. And, if you happen to be a teacher reading this, we personally offer our thanks, for the future of our world is in your hands.
Tuesday 3 May 2016
Tue
3rd. Ss Philip & James.
1
Corinthians 15:1-8. Their message goes out through all the earth—Ps 18(19):2-5. John 14:6-14.
God
has come among us for our salvation.
The account that Saint Paul gives of the Gospel, and the response of Jesus to Philip’s request tell of the same great truth. Each declare the very heart of our Gospel; that in the person of Jesus, God has come among us for our salvation.
This is the Good News that Saints Philip and James, along with the other Apostles, were entrusted with. That God has taken on our nature, proclaimed the Kingdom, died and risen changes everything. This is the full revelation of God and his love for us, his conquest of death and sin. What greater message could one be tasked to bear than this?
Rather than leaving a book to tell of him, or sending angels to proclaim the kingdom around the world, Jesus founded the Church and gave her the apostles, along with his promises of help, to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world.
MINUTE
MEDITATIONS
|
Reliance on God
|
Only in human weakness do many of us begin to rely on God and
explicitly repudiate our own divine ambitions. Every pain alerts us to the fact
that we are not the Almighty.
May
3
Sts. Philip and James
Sts. Philip and James
James, Son of
Alphaeus: We know nothing of this
man except his name, and of course the fact that Jesus chose him to be one of
the 12 pillars of the New Israel, his Church. He is not the James of Acts, son
of Clopas, “brother” of Jesus and later bishop of Jerusalem and the traditional
author of the Letter of James. James, son of Alphaeus, is also known as James
the Lesser to avoid confusing him with James the son of Zebedee, also an
apostle and known as James the Greater.
Philip: Philip came from the same town as Peter and Andrew,
Bethsaida in Galilee. Jesus called him directly, whereupon he sought out
Nathanael and told him of the “one about whom Moses wrote” (John 1:45).
Like the other
apostles, Philip took a long time coming to realize who Jesus was. On one
occasion, when Jesus saw the great multitude following him and wanted to give
them food, he asked Philip where they should buy bread for the people to eat.
St. John comments, “[Jesus] said this to test him, because he himself knew what
he was going to do” (John 6:6). Philip answered, “Two hundred days’ wages worth
of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit]” (John
6:7).
John’s story is not a
put-down of Philip. It was simply necessary for these men who were to be the
foundation stones of the Church to see the clear distinction between humanity’s
total helplessness apart from God and the human ability to be a bearer of
divine power by God’s gift.
On another occasion,
we can almost hear the exasperation in Jesus’ voice. After Thomas had
complained that they did not know where Jesus was going, Jesus said, “I am the
way...If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do
know him and have seen him” (John 14:6a, 7). Then Philip said, “Master, show us
the Father, and that will be enough for us” (John 14:8). Enough! Jesus
answered, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know
me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9a).
Possibly because
Philip bore a Greek name or because he was thought to be close to Jesus, some
Gentile proselytes came to him and asked him to introduce them to Jesus. Philip
went to Andrew, and Andrew went to Jesus. Jesus’ reply in John’s Gospel is
indirect; Jesus says that now his “hour” has come, that in a short time he will
give his life for Jew and Gentile alike.
Comment:
As in the case of the other apostles, we see in James and Philip human men who became foundation stones of the Church, and we are reminded again that holiness and its consequent apostolate are entirely the gift of God, not a matter of human achieving. All power is God’s power, even the power of human freedom to accept his gifts. “You will be clothed with power from on high,” Jesus told Philip and the others. Their first commission had been to expel unclean spirits, heal diseases, announce the kingdom. They learned, gradually, that these externals were sacraments of an even greater miracle inside their persons—the divine power to love like God.
As in the case of the other apostles, we see in James and Philip human men who became foundation stones of the Church, and we are reminded again that holiness and its consequent apostolate are entirely the gift of God, not a matter of human achieving. All power is God’s power, even the power of human freedom to accept his gifts. “You will be clothed with power from on high,” Jesus told Philip and the others. Their first commission had been to expel unclean spirits, heal diseases, announce the kingdom. They learned, gradually, that these externals were sacraments of an even greater miracle inside their persons—the divine power to love like God.
Quote:
“He sent them...so that as sharers in his power they might make all peoples his disciples, sanctifying and governing them.... They were fully confirmed in this mission on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:1–26) in accordance with the Lord’s promise: ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses for me...even to the very ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). By everywhere preaching the gospel (cf. Mark 16:20), which was accepted by their hearers under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the apostles gathered together the universal Church, which the Lord established on the apostles and built upon blessed Peter, their chief, Christ Jesus himself remaining the supreme cornerstone...” (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 19).
“He sent them...so that as sharers in his power they might make all peoples his disciples, sanctifying and governing them.... They were fully confirmed in this mission on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:1–26) in accordance with the Lord’s promise: ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses for me...even to the very ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). By everywhere preaching the gospel (cf. Mark 16:20), which was accepted by their hearers under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the apostles gathered together the universal Church, which the Lord established on the apostles and built upon blessed Peter, their chief, Christ Jesus himself remaining the supreme cornerstone...” (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 19).
Patron Saint of:
Uruguay
Uruguay
LECTIO DIVINA: STS. PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES
Lectio Divina:
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
1) OPENING 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.
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.
2) GOSPEL READING - JOHN 14,6-14
Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and
Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will
know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.
Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father
and then we shall be satisfied.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you all
this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? 'Anyone who has seen me has
seen the Father, so how can you say, "Show us the Father"? Do you not
believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
What I say to you I do not speak of my
own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. You must
believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at
least believe it on the evidence of these works. In all truth I tell you,
whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will
perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my
name, I will do it.
3) REFLECTION
• Today’s Gospel, the Feast of the
Apostles Philip and James, is the same one as we meditated on during the 4th week
of Easter, and narrates the request of the Apostle Philip to Jesus: “Show us
the Father, and that is enough for us”.
• John 14, 6: I am the way, I am
Truth and Life: Thomas had addressed a question to Jesus: “Lord, we do
not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (Jn 14, 5). Jesus
answers: “I am the way, I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father
except through me”. Three important words. Without the way, we cannot
walk. Without the truth one cannot make a good choice. Without life, there is
only death! Jesus explains the sense. He is the way, because no one “comes to
the Father except through me”. And he is the gate through which the sheep go in
and out (Jn 10, 9). Jesus is the Truth because looking at him, we are seeing
the image of the Father. “If you know me, you will know my Father too!” Jesus
is Life, because walking like Jesus we will be united to the Father and will
have life in us!
• John 14, 7: To know Jesus is
to know the Father. Thomas had asked: “Lord, we do not know where you
are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus answers: “I am the way, I am
Truth and Life! No one comes to the Father except through me”. And he
adds: “If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment
you have known him and have seen him”. This is the first phrase of
today’s Gospel. Jesus always speaks about the Father, because it was the life
of the Father that appeared in everything that he said and did. This continuous
reference to the Father causes Philip to ask the question.
• John 14, 8-11: Philip asks:
“Show us the Father and then we will be satisfied!” It was the desire
of the disciples, the desire of many persons of the communities of the Beloved
Disciple and it is the desire of many people today. What do people do to see
the Father of whom Jesus speaks so much? Jesus’ answer is very beautiful and it
is valid even today: “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and
you still do not know me? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” People
should not think that God is far away from us, at a distance and unknown.
Anyone who wants to know how and who is God the Father, it suffices for him to
look at Jesus. He has revealed him in the words and gestures of his life! “The
Father is in me and I am in the Father!” Through his obedience, Jesus has
totally identified himself with the Father. At every moment he did what the
Father told him to do (Jn 5, 30; 8, 28-29.38). This is why in Jesus, everything
is the revelation of the Father! And the signs or works are the works of the
Father! As people say: “The son is the face of the father!” This is why in
Jesus and for Jesus, God is in our midst.
• John 14, 12-14: The Promise of
Jesus. Jesus makes a promise to say that his intimacy with the Father
is not a privilege only for him, but it is possible for all those who believe
in him. We also, through Jesus, can be able to do beautiful things for others
as Jesus did for the people of his time. He intercedes for us. Everything that
people ask from him, he asks the Father and obtains it, always if it is to
serve. Jesus is our defender. He leaves but he does not leave us without
defence. He promises that he will ask the Father and the Father will send
another defender and consoler, the Holy Spirit. Jesus even said that it is
necessary that he leaves, because otherwise the Holy Spirit will not come (Jn
16, 7). And the Holy Spirit will fulfil the things of Jesus in us, if we act in
the name of Jesus and observe the great commandment of the practice of love.
4) FOR PERSONAL CONFRONTATION
• Jesus is the way, the Truth and the
Life. Without the way, without Truth and without life we cannot live. Try to
make this enter your conscience.
• Two important questions: who is Jesus
for me? Who am I for Jesus?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
The heavens declare the glory of God,
the vault of heaven proclaims his handiwork,
day discourses of it to day,
night to night hands on the knowledge. (Ps 19,1-2)
the vault of heaven proclaims his handiwork,
day discourses of it to day,
night to night hands on the knowledge. (Ps 19,1-2)
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