Today my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church celebrates the feast of the two apostles, Philip and James. Their relics are kept together in the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Rome and, from the day of its dedication in 565, these two apostles have been celebrated together. Not much is known about these two Apostles of Jesus. James, son of Alphaeus and cousin of the Lord, ruled the Church of Jerusalem, and probably authored the letter we find in the New Testament. He suffered martyrdom in the year 62.
Philip came from Bethsaida, on the shore of the Lake of Galilee. He was a disciple of John the Baptist and later became an apostle of Jesus. Philip is known from some of his comments that appear to reveal a weakness of faith. In addition to the comment above, recall when Jesus was preparing to multiply the fish and loaves and asked Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” (John 6:5). Philip’s response was, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little bit” (John 6:7). But Jesus was testing Philip and, unfortunately, he failed the test.
Though Philip failed in faith many times, he did not give up in standing for faith in Christ, something we can learn from him. He is the one who baptized the Ethiopian eunuch in the Acts of the Apostles and finally preached in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria. He and Saint Bartholomew were said to have been crucified upside down and tradition also holds that Philip preached upside down from the cross until his death.
St Paul affirms that the truth of the resurrection of Christ is indubitable. It is the climax of our Christian faith and the fount of the hope of our salvation. Our personal belief in this divine reality must also be rooted in our own personal encounter with the risen Christ in the sacraments. It is in this personal encounter that for us Christ becomes the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, our Christian faith must always have a personal dimension which creates room for a personal encounter with God. This divine intimacy can be strengthened by pious devotion to Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints, and daily meditations. How is Jesus the way, the truth and the life.
Jesus is the way. There are several aspects involved here. Firstly, Jesus is the way through which God fully revealed Himself to humanity so that whoever sees him, he has seen God (John 14:9). It is through Jesus that God has spoken to us (Hebrews 1:2) and has shown us his love, mercy, Kindness, power, and whatever he wants us to know about Him.
Secondly, Jesus is the way through which we know God. As Jesus is a full revelation of God, he tells us everything about God and what he tells us is his truth. He has truly shown us what really God is through his words, actions and above all through his life. It is only through Jesus that we know God as he is the one who has come from heaven, and he was with God from all eternity (John 1:1).
Thirdly, Jesus is the way through which we reach God and through which we enter God's house. He is the mediator between God and us because he has both Divinity and humanity. Therefore, to reach God we must believe in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the truth. Most philosophical reflections about God assert that God is the truth. Jesus is God and so he is the truth. Jesus calls himself the truth before Pontius Pilate and asserts that the truth will set us free and indeed Jesus sets us free; He is the truth beyond telling. Throughout his teachings, Jesus said truth and only truth, that is, the truth about God and words which bring eternal life. There is no lie in the person of Jesus. Lastly Jesus teaches only the truth and all who follow him devoutly only say the truth, no Jesus follower says something untrue unless he or she gives in to the devil's temptation.
Jesus is the life. For a number of times, we have reflected on this aspect and so we can summarize it as follows. Jesus as the gate to eternal life, Jesus as a life- giving Spirit (1Cor 15:45), Jesus as a destroyer of death by his resurrection and thus maker of life, Jesus as a promoter of life seen through his miracles and Jesus as the Bread of life. All these show that truly Jesus is Life and in him is the fullness of life. He came that we may have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10).
Therefore brethren, let us put all our trust in him for he will surely take us to His father's house. He also reveals to us who the father is, for whoever sees him has seen the Father. It is an assurance for us who believe in him. Let us continue to reflect today on how ready we are to enter the Father's house through our believing in Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. We continue to pray for ourselves that we may always long and work for entering the Father's house where eternal happiness dwells.
Let us Pray.
Jesus, I give you thanks for giving yourself to me in such a beautiful way. You are my way to the Father and my heavenly home. You are the truth that sets me free from sin and teaches me all that is right and good. You are the life that flows through my veins. You share your life with me by feeding me from your own precious body. You died for me so you could do all this for me. I am full of gratitude and wonder at your self-giving love. Amen
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