Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (14: 6-14) in Jesus says to Thomas ‘I am the way, the truth and life no one can come to the Father except through me’. After reading the Gospel Fr Paul shares a little about St Philip and James, whose memorial we celebrate today.
Fr Paul says Philip was born at Bethsaida and started as a disciple of John the Baptist. After the Baptist’s death he followed Christ. James the son of Alphaeus is called “James the Less”, to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee. James “the brother of the Lord” ruled the Church at Jerusalem; wrote an epistle; led an austere life; and converted many Jews to the Faith. He was crowned with martyrdom in the year 62. Jerome, biblical scholar, held these two Jameses to be the same person, and this was certainly the prevailing opinion when the feast of Philip and James was instituted in 560. Nowadays scholars prefer to divide them, in which case we might think of today as being the feast of Philip and James and James. Today, Fr Paul invites us to pray ‘St Philip and St James…Pray for us!’
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