3 May 2023

3 May 2023

Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

I’m always curious why some apostles are paired together. Today is one of those days where two apostles are celebrated on the same feast day, where the reasoning is not particularly obvious. I think that what both have in common is that both show us the importance of seeing Jesus after his death and burial. They remind us of the importance of encountering the Risen Christ. In today’s Gospel, Phillip asks Jesus if he can see the Father. Jesus rebukes him for this, saying, “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 14:9). Regarding James, we hear in the First Reading (1 Cor 15:1-8) that Jesus appeared to James (and Phillip) after rising from the dead. Both apostles have an experience of seeing Jesus and thereby seeing God. Why is this important, in any case?

St. Ignatius of Loyola, in The Spiritual Exercises, stresses the importance of imaginative contemplation. He urges people to use their senses to try and encounter Jesus in his ministry, passion, death, and resurrection. In the fourth week of The Exercises, he invites the retreatant to see what Phillip and James see: Jesus resurrected from the dead. This is important because seeing Christ gives us an experience of God. By seeing Christ, we can gain the graces of Easter peace and joy he brings to those he visits post-Easter Sunday. Our Christianity is nothing if Christ has not been raised from the dead. Everything hinges upon the fact that Jesus did rise and conquered death. If we have not yet seen Christ in our own lives or experienced God, ask for that grace today. Like Phillip and James, our lives may be set on fire for the gospel through encountering the Risen Lord.