It is always beneficial and fruitful to meditate on the example and the virtues of the apostles—their miraculous works and their sufferings; for they teach what loving Jesus looks like
On the third of May, this last week, the Church celebrated the feast of two apostles, Saints Philip and James. And on Thursday, I preached about these two apostles, but I wanted to go into a bit greater depth, today, particularly into the great example of the apostle Philip, who is such a marvelous example of fidelity to the commandment to love—his very name, in Greek means “the one who loves”
In the Gospels, we first meet Philip when he begins following the Lord. And it really is love at first sight for Philip. We read in John Chapter 1 how Jesus was in Galilee and the Lord simply says to Philip, “follow me”. No arguments, no proofs, no signs, Philip simply follows the Lord. And in the very next verse, Philip is joyfully running over to Nathanael, proclaiming, “we have found the Lord the one Moses had spoken about in the law and the prophets.” When you really love someone you are willing to tell others about them.
So we follow Philip’s example of loving, joyful witnessing. We are to share with others—relatives, friends, strangers—how loving Jesus Christ has changed our lives. Witnessing to the power of our Christian faith shouldn’t terrify us; it should be a common practice for us. For there is power in that sharing, sharing how being a Catholic, how the sacraments, how prayer, how being involved in acts of charity, has changed you. How your lives are different because of Jesus. One of the ways Jesus wants to draw people to himself, is through your joyful sharing of your encounters with Him.
We read about another encounter between the Lord and the apostle Philip at the last supper, in the passage immediately preceding today’s Gospel. Jesus utters those beautiful words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
And Philip turns to Jesus and utters a request: “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” The Lord gently rebukes Philip here because Philip doesn’t seem to grasp entirely what Jesus is teaching. Jesus didn’t come to grant a heavenly vision, a miraculous sign that would once-and-for-all prove the Father’s existence. Because he loves Philip, the Lord corrects Him. To love the Lord, is to be willing to be corrected by Him, stretched by Him, challenged by Him, drawn out of your comfort zone by Him.
After the last Supper, the Scriptures are silent about Philip, except for telling us that he burst out of the Upper Room with the rest of the Apostles on Pentecost preaching the Good News. Ancient Christian legend, however, details how Philip preached and performed miracles in Galilee, then went to Greece, and finally to a city in Phrygia, in modern day Turkey, called Hieropolis.
Hieropolis was known for its temples to the pagan gods, particularly to a pagan snake-God. And upon Philip’s arrival in Hieropolis, the snakes filling this Temple began to go crazy, hissing wildly and biting people. This reminds us of the scripture that says, the devil is in a great fury for he knows his time on earth is short. Often the devil causes disturbances in families and parishes right when they are on the verge of growing in holiness or performing sacred works for the Lord because he knows he is about to lose some territory.
Anyway, Philip goes around town and begins healing people of these deadly poisonous snake bites. He then prays for the Lord to deliver the pagans from this false snake-god religion, and at the request of Philip’s prayers, God strikes down this large temple serpent. Many people converted to Christ through Philips preaching, including the wife of the governor. This angered the governor and the pagan priests. So they arrest Philip and crucified him on the steps of the temple. But, during his crucifixion there was a terrible earthquake. From his cross Philip prayed for the salvation of those who crucified him. The temple was destroyed and the people were saved. And after his death, many came to believe in the one about whom Phillip preached, Jesus the Christ.
So a few lessons here. First, Philip gives a wonderful example of Christian charity. He went around healing people. In this story, he heals them before he even starts preaching.
The Christian is always to be about the works of charity. It doesn’t matter if they eventually come to convert or not. We are to be about the work of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, because we are followers of Christ. In this way we are faithful to Christ’s command to love.
Secondly though, we must not be afraid to preach the truth even in the face of other competing religions and worldviews. Just because our culture is infatuated with promiscuity and perversion, doesn’t mean we stop preaching the truth about chastity, modesty, and purity. Just because our culture is infatuated with technology and instant gratification, doesn’t mean we stop preaching the truth about simplicity, self-discipline, silent prayer. We show our love by sharing the truth with them, lest souls continue down paths which lead to eternal separation from God.
Thirdly, Philip was willing to suffer and even to die so that others might know Christ. Christianity isn’t for wimps, or, maybe it is. Maybe it aims to give wimps like us courage, to be bold in our faith, fortitude to withstand the overwhelming temptation of the flesh, and the guts and the steel to make sacrifices so our saving faith might be spread.
May the Lord find us, like Philip, ready to follow Him to the ends of the earth, to use us as his instruments of charity and deliverance. And may Holy Mass today deepen our love for the Lord, and our conviction to proclaim and to live our faith boldly for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
