Reflection on St. Phillip and St. James Day

This is getting posted a day late, but not a dollar short, necessarily. Our internet decided to go on vacation yesterday afternoon for the umpteenth time, so we have called in a tech to fix it. Magically, it has been restored after hitting the factory reset button for a second time. Hence, I am now able to post what I was going to put up yesterday!

Yes, May 1st is International Worker's Day. Yes, the Pagan community celebrate Beltane on May 1st with May poles galore. In the Christian (or Catholic/Episcopal) calendar, it is St. Phillip and St. James Day. This was another writing assignment tasked me by St. Thomas. The gospel is from John:

"Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you know me, you will know^* my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ ⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If in my name you ask me^* for anything, I will do it."

Here are my thoughts:

Philip and James were among those who faithfully followed Jesus. And still, as Jesus prepares for his journey to the cross and speaks those powerful words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” we have Philip asking Jesus to “Show us the Father.” Even those who had the closest contact to Him had not quite grasped that Jesus had shown them “the way, the truth and the life” through his earthly ministry. Each time he touched someone, listened patiently, responded in compassion and love, Jesus was modeling the love that is from the Father. The love of God is within Jesus, and that love is within each of us who proclaims Christ as the Redeemer. Respond in love as Jesus loved us, and that is the way to truth and life which heals the world.