1 Cor 15:1-8 / Jn 14:6-14
While today we are celebrating the feast of St. Philip and St. James, I want to focus first on St. Paul’s comments that he is the least of the apostles. Why would Paul downplay his apostleship, and at the same time claim to be apostle? Paul recognizes the authority of the other apostles, naming Cephas and James specifically, but why the differential tone?
It is very possible that Paul was being challenged in his claim to be an apostle, so he wrote in the way he did to short-circuit his detractors. Anyone who is successful is a target. (Which may explain why the media is so strongly against the Church right now.)
We should not be surprised when people who seem to be friends, all of a sudden decide there is something wrong with the way we are doing things. More specifically, have you had people challenging what you do for the Lord? Have people asked “who do they think they are?” We should expect some resistance to what we are presenting of the Truth. People’s resistance to St. Paul was so great they stoned him, imprisoned him, eventually killed him. All because he believed he was sent by Jesus to bring the good news to the world.
History tells us that all but one of the apostles died a martyr’s death. I think St. Paul is here making the case that all Christians should expect the same thing. What do you expect?
In our gospel story today, Philip asks Jesus: “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Philip expressed the desire of every apostle, indeed, every Christian. When we reflect on what we “expect” because of our faithfulness to Jesus, is it only the beautiful vision of heaven or does it include the ugliness of persecution?
Many of the early martyrs seemed to go to their deaths with great joy. St. Irenaeus even went so far as to plead with people not to intervene in his impending martyrdom. He wrote that he looked forward to being ground by the teeth of the beast into wheat that he might be a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord. An obvious reference to the Eucharist.
How much of our lives are consumed in service to the gospel? To paraphrase St. Francis de Sales, each of us is called to live our witness in our own unique vocation. The final question for today and for our lives comes from the mouth of Jesus. Will he say to you “Well done good and faithful servant”? That, and the embrace of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the goal of each apostle.
