Sts Philip and James, apostles († 1st century) 'Philip - Jn.14:8' Commentary by St. Hilary

Saints PHILIP and JAMES
Apostles

        Philip was one of the first chosen Disciples of Christ. On the way from Judea to Galilee Our Lord found Philip, and said, "Follow me" Philip straightway obeyed; and then in his zeal and charity sought to win Nathaniel also, saying, "We have found him of whom Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth;" and when Nathaniel in wonder asked, "Can any good come out of Nazareth?" Philip simply answered, "Come and see," and brought him to Jesus.

        Another characteristic saying of this apostle is preserved for us by St. John. Christ in his last discourse had spoken of his Father; and Philip exclaimed, in the fervor of his thirst for God, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough"

        St. James the Less, the author of an inspired epistle, was also one of the Twelve. St. Paul tells us that he was favored by a special apparition of Christ after the Resurrection. On the dispersion of the apostles among the nations, St. James was left as Bishop of Jerusalem; and even the Jews held in such high veneration his purity, mortification, and prayer, that they named him the Just.

        The earliest of Church historians has handed down many traditions of St. James's sanctity. He was always a virgin, says Hegesippus, and consecrated to God. He drank no wine, wore no sandals on his feet, and but a single garment on his body. He prostrated himself so much in prayer that the skin of his knees was hardened like a camel's hoof. The Jews, it is said, used out of respect to touch the hem of his garment. He was indeed a living proof of his own words, "The wisdom that is from above first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, full of mercy and good fruits."

        He sat beside St. Peter and St. Paul at the Council of Jerusalem; and when St. Paul at a later time escaped the fury of the Jews by appealing to Cæsar, the people took vengeance on James, and crying, "The just one hath erred," stoned him to death.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Saint Hilary (c.315-367), Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church

Friday, 03 May 2013

Saints Philip and James, apostles - Feast

See commentary below or click here

http://dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=saintfeast&id=10134&fd=0 

 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14:6-14.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Jesus said to him, "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. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it. 

Commentary of the day

Saint Hilary (c.315-367), Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church

The way to the Father

Our Lord has allowed no doubt or uncertainty regarding so great a mystery... Hear him revealing to the apostles everything we need to know to believe: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me then you will also know my Father... Whoever 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 is in me?”... Therefore he who is the way is not leading us along paths with no conclusion or in a desert without a way; he who is the truth has no desire to deceive us with lies; he who is the life will not abandon us in errors that end in death... “No one comes to the Father except through me”: the way to the Father passes through the Son...

“If you know me then you will also know the Father.” We see the man, Christ Jesus..., his outward aspect, namely his human nature...; so how is it that to know him is to know the Father also? In the mystery of the body he took, our Lord makes known the divinity that is in the Father, while keeping to a certain order...: “If you know me, you will know him and see him”... He makes a distinction between the moment of seeing and that of knowing; he says they must recognize the one who is speaking to them and they will see...; he has to teach them to recognize the divine nature within him.

These words, for which they were unprepared, trouble Philip. He sees a man and this man claims to be the Son of God... The Lord says to him that he has seen the Father and that therefore he knows him because he has seen him. The limitations of his humanness prevent Philip from understanding any such statement... That is why he answers that he has not seen the Father and asks the Lord to show him to him. Not that he wants to see him with his bodily eyes but he is asking to be enabled to understand who it is that he sees... Expressing a desire to understand rather than to see, he adds: “That will be enough for us”.