Memorial of the apostles Philip and James.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

1 Corinthians 15,1-8

I want to make quite clear to you, brothers, what the message of the gospel that I preached to you is; you accepted it and took your stand on it, and you are saved by it, if you keep to the message I preached to you; otherwise your coming to believe was in vain. The tradition I handed on to you in the first place, a tradition which I had myself received, was that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried; and that on the third day, he was raised to life, in accordance with the scriptures; and that he appeared to Cephas; and later to the Twelve; and next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still with us, though some have fallen asleep; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. Last of all he appeared to me too, as though I was a child born abnormally.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Today, the Church remembers the Apostles Philip and James, and Paul writing to the Corinthians recalls that the risen Jesus "appeared to James, then to all the apostles." From Easter and the appearances of the Risen One, begins that preaching of the Gospel that is transmitted from generation to generation. And Paul remembers passing on to the Corinthians that very same Gospel that he himself had received.
Between this welcoming and communicating the Easter of the Resurrection lies the heart of the Gospel and the secret of the Christian life. And the Apostles Philip and James are remembered by tradition as generous disciples who were among the first to respond to Jesus' call. Philip was a Galilean from Bethsaida, a fisherman like Peter, and it was he who enthusiastically called Nathanael - Bartholomew. And it was he himself who brought to Jesus the question of the Greeks who wanted to see him in Jerusalem (Jn 12:20-22). In particular, the Gospel of John shows him to us as a missionary who questions and is questioned by the people who want to see Jesus. Tradition has him evangelising Asia and Phrygia, where he will die a martyr. James, on the other hand, also called the 'Lesser' so as not to confuse him with the other James, brother of John, son of Zebedee, will die a martyr in Jerusalem in 62AD, among the first to give his life for the Gospel. "If Christ had not risen, our faith would be in vain." Paul names the eyewitnesses: those to whom the risen Jesus appeared, even adding "more than five hundred brothers and sisters" most of whom, Paul says, were still living in his day. We too, who may consider ourselves the last of this long chain of resurrection witnesses, are called to immerse ourselves in this witness of faith and love. We believe in the resurrection not by our words, but by our lives. And the resurrected body of Christ today is in the members of his disciples, those members that we also are by living his love in this world.