3 May 2022 - Feast day of St Philip and St James the Lesser, Apostles - John 14:6-14

      In the last few days, we celebrated a lot of great saints in our Churches liturgical calendar.  Friday, we celebrated Catherine of Siena, a 14th century Italian mystic and lay member of the Dominican order who was proclaimed one of the first female Doctors of the Church by Pope Paul VI.  Sunday, we celebrated St Joseph the Worker. Yesterday, we celebrated St Athanasius, an important Early Church Father from the 4th century who was the Archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt and who is also a Doctor of the Church.   

       Today, on May 3, we celebrate the feast day of St Philip and St James the Lesser, two of the original apostles.  St James the Lesser, the son of Alphaeus, is called "the Lesser" in order to distinguish him from the other disciple of Jesus who is also named James, who was the son of Zebedee.  It is believed that James the Lesser remained in Jerusalem and became a leader of the Church community there.  Tradition holds that he was stoned to death in Jerusalem by Jewish authorities.  There is a minor basilica in Rome named Santi Apostoli.  This church originates in the 6th century and was originally dedicated to Philip and James, whose remains are interred here.  This basilica was later dedicated to all the apostles.  With their remains buried together, this is one of the reasons we celebrate them on this feast day together.  

    We see Philip’s curiosity and search to know God better in our Gospel reading today.  Jesus is telling the disciples about his relationship with the Father.  In response, Philip wants Jesus to show them the Father.  Jesus tells Philip that if we has seen Jesus, we indeed have seen the Father.  We might have a similar curiosity about our faith in our own search to find God’s presence in our lives. We may want to see more.  We may want to devolve further into the truth of God, wanting further proof or further explanation.  A curious mind and the questions we ask will help us in our search for God, for sure. 

         As we celebrate these wonderful saints this week, including this wonderful feast day of Philip and James, we connect ourselves to the apostles, to the Early Church Fathers, and to the community of saints, to the diverse group of the faithful who have helped us journey in faith throughout history.  May we always see the saints as our friends and companions who are helping us with their prayers and intercessions along our journey.