Homily For Wednesday Fourth Week of Easter Year A, The Feast of SS Philip and James, 3rd May, 2023

Readings: 1Cor 15:1-8; Ps.19;  John 14:6-14

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

DO WE TRULY KNOW THE LORD?

 

The main goal of discipleship is acquiring the mind of the master and the price to pay is desiring to obey and learn from the Master. This is clear with the use of the imagery of Father and Son by Jesus to explain his relationship with God the Father. But oftentimes, the people and even his disciples find it difficult to understand the systematic fashion of this relationship.

 

So in our Gospel passage today, Jesus tried to explain this relationship to his disciples when he said to them: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him. Curiously, Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied'. But Jesus said: you must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father and whatever you ask for in my name I will do it.

 

Here Jesus is saying that if we want to know God and understand his ways in relation to humanity, all we need to do is to look at him (Jesus) as the Son of the Father who has come to reveal the true image of God to humanity. We are to observe what he does, listen to what he teaches, watch how he behaves, what and who he loves, what he rejects or defends. By so doing, we will discover God in him because as the Son, he is the true human image of God. He is one with the Father in unity of existence and life and this is evidence in the Words he spoke and the works he performed.

 

Consequently, those who believe in him are endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and will do greater works then he has done, for he has gone to the Father and whatever they ask in his name he will do it, because they will be asking in accordance with the Holy Spirit in union with the name of the very person of Jesus whose request the Father will always granted.

 

So today we celebrate the feast of SS Philip and James, two great Apostles of our Lord Jesus, who laboured and worked hard to serve the Lord and brought his Good News to different corners of the world. Tradition has it that, Philip evangelized and preached in places like Greece, Asia Minor and Syria. It was during one of his ministry, according to tradition, that he was martyred when along with Bartholomew, tried to convince the wife of the local ruler to convert to the Christian faith and the furious ruler ordered Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified upside-down.

 

But Philip asked his persecutors to release Bartholomew, which they did, but he himself remain on the cross, and there he died a martyr. In a similar way St. James  whom we celebrate today was often referred to as "St. James the Less" to distinguish him from the other apostle named James, who was the brother of John. James the Lesser as he was called, was also a devoted disciple of the Lord, who was credited with the evangelization and conversion of many peoples just like Philip and the other Apostles. He was also martyred in Egypt, where he worked greatly in spreading the Gospel and defending the faith he has found in Jesus.

 

So, why Philip and James share a feast day is because, for centuries, the Catholic Church had special feasts to honor only four of the apostles. While the Church memorialized the remaining apostles all together on June 29. But in the sixth century, the bodies of SS. Philip and James were brought to Rome from the East and were laid to rest in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles. Since they arrived together at the same location, the Church instituted a single feast day for both apostles.

 

Dear friends, the questions we need to ask ourselves today are: Do we truly know the Lord?  Do we really believe in God as our Father? Do we personally and truly know and believe in Jesus as the way, the truth and the life? Have we any personal experience of the power of the Holy Spirit. The truth is that we can only do great work in his name when we have a personal experience and encounter with the risen Lord, just like the disciples Philip and James who after experienced the risen Lord, sacrificed their lives for the sake of his Gospel.

 

Therefore, I don’t what your experience of the Lord has been? I don’t know what you want God to do for you, I don’t know that pray points you recite everyday, I don’t know how deep your requests are, all I know is that if we truly have a personal relationship with Jesus and believe in him as the way, the truth and the life, we are going to be endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and will do greater works then he has done, for he has gone to the Father and has promised us that whatever we ask in his name he will do it.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we follow Jesus the way, the truth and the life, help us to carry out our responsibilities effectively, may we through the intercession of SS. Philip and James, have a personal experience of your presence in our lives, so that presenting our needs before you, we may find favour in your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful day.