Celebrating Saints Philip and James, Apostles and martyrs
Reflections on the readings for the Feast of Saints Philip and James (May 3, 2021): 1 COR 15:1-8; PS 19:2-3,4-5; JN 14:6-14
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
"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." (John 14:12-14)
This feast of Saints Philip and James honors two of the Twelve, those disciples of Christ especially selected to be Apostles. These were the men who Jesus intended to follow Him in His journey preaching the Kingdom of God – and then to continue the work after His return to Heaven. Like most of the other Apostles, we know only a little about Philip and James from Scripture. Like Saints Peter and John, Philip hailed from Bethsaida. And, in today’s Gospel set at the Last Supper, we hear Philip ask Jesus to “show us the Father.” Our Lord replies that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. “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” (John 14:12-14). Christ wants the Apostles, His closest friends and followers, to know that they will carry on His ministry.
While we do not know a great deal about St. James, we know that he became known as the Less or Lesser to distinguish him from the other Apostle James called the Great. The father of James the Less was named Alphaeus. In addition, it is thought that this James was related to Jesus. This was possibly through a kinswoman of the Blessed Virgin Mary who became one of the women who accompanied her. James went on to become the first bishop of Jerusalem and he became a martyr there for his faith in Christ. This was perhaps 30 years after Jesus’ crucifixion and Resurrection. It is generally thought that Philip, too, lay down his life for preaching the Gospel while he was in Asia Minor, now Turkey. The remains of both these saints were eventually housed in a church in Rome dedicated to the memory of Philip and James. It is now known as the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles.
Suggested missionary action: We can turn to Saints Philip and James in prayer and ask them to guide the work of the Church’s missions today. We can also ask for their prayers on behalf of those who are discerning the possibility of becoming missionaries.