Daily Gospel for Saturday, 3 May 2014

Daily Gospel for Saturday, 3 May 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.'"(John 6:68)
Saints Philip and James, apostles - Feast
Feast of the Church:

Saints PHILIP and JAMES 

Apostles

Philip was one of the first chosen Disciples of Christ. On the way from Judea to Galilee Our Lord found Philip, and said, "Follow me" Philip straightway obeyed; and then in his zeal and charity sought to win Nathaniel also, saying, "We have found him of whom Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth;" and when Nathaniel in wonder asked, "Can any good come out of Nazareth?" Philip simply answered, "Come and see," and brought him to Jesus.
Another characteristic saying of this apostle is preserved for us by St. John. Christ in his last discourse had spoken of his Father; and Philip exclaimed, in the fervor of his thirst for God, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough"
St. James the Less, the author of an inspired epistle, was also one of the Twelve. St. Paul tells us that he was favored by a special apparition of Christ after the Resurrection. On the dispersion of the apostles among the nations, St. James was left as Bishop of Jerusalem; and even the Jews held in such high veneration his purity, mortification, and prayer, that they named him the Just.
The earliest of Church historians has handed down many traditions of St. James's sanctity. He was always a virgin, says Hegesippus, and consecrated to God. He drank no wine, wore no sandals on his feet, and but a single garment on his body. He prostrated himself so much in prayer that the skin of his knees was hardened like a camel's hoof. The Jews, it is said, used out of respect to touch the hem of his garment. He was indeed a living proof of his own words, "The wisdom that is from above first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, full of mercy and good fruits.
He sat beside St. Peter and St. Paul at the Council of Jerusalem; and when St. Paul at a later time escaped the fury of the Jews by appealing to Cæsar, the people took vengeance on James, and crying, "The just one hath erred," stoned him to death.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saints for the Day:

BLESSED TOMMASO ACERBIS

Friars Minor Capuchin

(1563-1631)

Bl. Tommaso Acerbis, from Olera (Italy) was born in 1563 and died in Austria in 1631.
He has been beatified by Pope Francis on September 21st, 2013.
Saints Philip and James, apostles - Feast
First Letter to the Corinthians 15:1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
Psalm 19:2 Day after day they pour out speech,
    and night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language,
    where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth,
    their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room,
    like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake. 12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father. 13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.
Saints Philip and James, apostles - Feast
Commenary for Today:

Pope Francis 

Apostolic Exhortation « Evangelii Gaudium / The Joy of the Gospel» §180-181 (trans. © copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Saints Philip et James, apostles sent out to proclaim the Kingdom of God to the whole world
Reading the Scriptures makes it clear that the Gospel is not merely about our personal relationship with God... The Gospel is about the kingdom of God (Lk 4,43); it is about loving God who reigns in our world. To the extent that he reigns within us, the life of society will be a setting for universal fraternity, justice, peace and dignity. Both Christian preaching and life, then, are meant to have an impact on society. We are seeking God’s kingdom: “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6,33). Jesus’ mission is to inaugurate the kingdom of his Father; he commands his disciples to proclaim the good news that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 10,7). 
The kingdom, already present and growing in our midst, engages us at every level of our being and reminds us of the principle of discernment which Pope Paul VI applied to true development: it must be directed to “all men and the whole man”. We know that “evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social” (Paul VI). This is the principle of universality intrinsic to the Gospel, for the Father desires the salvation of every man and woman (cf. 1Tim 2,4), and his saving plan consists in “gathering up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1,10). Our mandate is to “go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mk 16,15), for “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Rom 8,19). Here, “the creation” refers to every aspect of human life; consequently, “the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ has a universal destination. Its mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of existence, all individuals, all areas of community life, and all peoples. Nothing human can be alien to it”.
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