Sts Philip and James, Apostles
"Jn 14:6-14"
Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me."...Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?...he who believes in me will also do the works that I do...Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it."
First Thomas asked a question and Jesus answered. Then Philip asked another question and Jesus replied. How vivid and pleasant must have been those dialogues with Jesus where they could talk about whatever they wanted! In those conversations the Apostles learned from Jesus, solved their dilemmas, grew in faith, had the best times of their lives and gave Jesus the comfort of their friendship. Surely there were nice comments, encouraging anecdotes from one, jokes from another, songs from their various hometowns... How much Jesus loved those get-togethers!
That's what prayer is: a vivid and pleasant dialogue with God. Those dialogues transformed them into the Apostles that Jesus needed, able to do the works that Jesus did with the power to ask anything in the Name of Jesus and obtain it. Because for those who pray, who are friends with Jesus, He does anything.
Philip took a long time to realise who Jesus was. When Jesus asked him to feed the multitude, Philip replied, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little". Actually five loaves and two fish did the job. James (The Lesser) was a relative of Jesus (probably son of Jesus' aunt Mary of Cleopas). He knew Jesus before He became a public figure. It took him a while to understand who He really was. But those long conversations with Our Lord opened his mind. He eventually became bishop of Jerusalem and was stoned to death for his faith in Jesus. Our daily dialogue with Jesus will also transform us into modern apostles; we will grow in faith and do the works that He does. Holy Mary, Queen of the Apostles, pray for us.
