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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 05-03-05, Feast of Sts Philip and James, Apostles
USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 05-03-05 | New American Bible

Posted on 05/03/2005 6:46:53 AM PDT by Salvation

May 3, 2005
Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

Psalm: Tuesday 21

Reading I
1 Cor 15:1-8

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers and sisters at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 19:2-3, 4-5

R. (5) Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day;
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.


Gospel
Jn 14:6-14

Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him,
"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father'?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it."




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KEYWORDS: catholiclist; dailymassreadings; easter; stjames; stphilip
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To: annalex

Albrecht DÜRER, 1516


21 posted on 05/03/2005 9:47:28 PM PDT by annalex
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To: annalex

The Apostles Philip and James by Durer.


22 posted on 05/03/2005 9:48:59 PM PDT by annalex
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To: annalex

Thank you for those portraits. I had seen the one of St. James before.


23 posted on 05/03/2005 11:14:43 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
 
 
 

Tuesday May 3, 2005   Sixth Week of Easter

Reading (1 Corinthians 15:1-8)   Gospel (St. John 14:6-14)

 Our Lord tells us in the Gospel today that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Now if we are going to go to our heavenly Father through Our Lord, then the question is how. How is this going to be accomplished? Saint Paul, in the first reading today, tells us that what is of first importance is that Jesus died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose from the dead. That is the means by which we go to our heavenly Father. If we are going to come to the Father only through the Lord, it is going to be only through His death and Resurrection. It is the only way.

We do not believe in a Jesus Christ who is not crucified and who is not risen. What good would it be? It would be like saying that we can go to the Father through one of us (because we have not been crucified and we are not resurrected either, as yet). So what would it mean? It would be worthless. 

It is of first importance, Saint Paul says, that Jesus died for our sins. That is the first thing he wants people to understand. Recall that when he talked to the Corinthians he said, When I was among you, I decided to speak of nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That was the point of Saint Paul’s preaching. Anything else, he said, would have taken away the power of the Cross. And so for us as Christian people, we must keep our focus specifically on Jesus Christ crucified. There is no other way to go to our heavenly Father. It is only through the wounds of Christ, only through the blood that He poured out for us on the Cross, only through the open wound in his heart, that we are able to enter into glory. There is no salvation apart from the Crucifixion, so it is not possible to focus anywhere else if we want to be able to enter into eternal life.  

And so we need to keep our focus solely on the Lord – but on Jesus Christ crucified. Certainly we can focus on the Resurrection, but there is no Resurrection without the Crucifixion. Regardless of what mystery it is that you might want to focus on, it matters not as long as you do not deny in any way, shape, or form the Crucifixion. If you want to look at the Risen Christ Who had appeared to all of these people, if you want to focus on the Glorified Christ as He is seated right now at the right hand of His Father, it matters not as long as we are focused on the One Who was pierced for our offenses, Who was wounded for our sins. He maintains those wounds even now. Even in His glorified state, He still has the holes in His hands and in His side and in His feet. He still has His heart wide open to us because it was pierced with a lance. It is in that way that we have access to the Father – and only in that way.  

That is the point of first importance, Saint Paul tells us. That is the Gospel message: that Jesus Christ died for our sins. Anything other than that is not the Gospel. Therefore, anything other than that is not going to be true prayer because it removes Jesus from the Cross; or shall we put it the other way, it removes the Cross from the Christ, and you cannot. There is no Christ without the Cross. And not only is there no Christ without the Cross, but there is no salvation for any of us without the Cross. It is not only a matter of looking at the Cross of Jesus in our prayer, but it is a matter of uniting ourselves with Jesus on His Cross so that we are able to share with Him in the work of salvation. As we pray and we look at that crucified Lord, it is not just to look at a distance, it is to be one with Him, to be united with Him, to be crucified with Him, so that we can be glorified with Him, as Saint Paul would say. That is what our lives are to be about. That is the point of first importance. Anything else and we fall into the problem that the Jews and the Greeks had: the Cross becomes a stumbling block or it becomes foolishness. But for we who believe, the Cross is the power of God and it is the wisdom of God, and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ for our sins is the message of the Gospel which is of first importance. 

*  This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.


24 posted on 05/03/2005 11:20:14 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
The Word Among Us


Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Meditation
John 14:6-14



The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these. (John 14:12)

Today we celebrate two of the original apostles: Philip and James. History has not left us with many details about what happened to these two men after Pentecost. We don’t even know whether this James (also known as “James the Lesser”) is the same one who oversaw the church in Jerusalem, the one who authored the New Testament letter with that name, or another James altogether.

However, we do know that both Philip and James were with Jesus throughout his ministry, that they were there at his death and resurrection, and that they were in the upper room at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down upon them. We also believe that both Philip and James were martyred because of their preaching and witness. We may not know the details, but we can trust that, just as Jesus promised, these two did end their days doing even “greater works” than he did as they went out into the world with the message of the gospel.

We too have received the Holy Spirit and been called to announce the gospel. We all know that we should try hard to evangelize and to bless those around us. We Catholics tend to be very good at knowing what is expected of us—even if we don’t always do it! But today, maybe we should dare to dream instead of think about where we may be falling short.

If Jesus really did promise that we could do greater works than he did, what might those “works” look like? What wonders might Jesus be prepared to work through us if we step out in faith and trust? Saints in the past have done some pretty amazing things in Jesus’ name because of their faith. Can we expect the same to happen for us? Of course we can! Nowhere in Scripture does it say that healings are no longer possible, or that the food in a soup kitchen cannot be miraculously multiplied, or that an unbelieving friend cannot have an overwhelming experience of God’s love. Let’s try to take Jesus at his word and see what happens.

“Lord, I place my faith in your promises, even the ones that seem outlandish to me. Help my unbelief, Jesus! By your Spirit, make me like Philip and James.” 

1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Psalm 19:2-5


25 posted on 05/03/2005 11:29:23 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 

<< Wednesday, May 4, 2005 >>
 
Acts 17:15, 22—18:1 Psalm 148 John 16:12-15
View Readings
 
HEARING AID
 
“We must hear you on this topic some other time.” —Acts 17:32
 

Are you putting God off? Do you tell Him “some other time”? Are there things you can’t bear to hear from God? (Jn 16:12) Are you setting up defense mechanisms to keep from hearing God?

The Holy Spirit “will announce to you the things to come” (Jn 16:13), things you could not previously bear to hear. Remember Stephen’s martyrdom. “The onlookers were shouting aloud, holding their hands over their ears as they did so” (Acts 7:57). We make noise to drown out God and, if that isn’t good enough, we cover our ears. How can God get us to close our mouths and open our ears? How can He get us to move our hands from over our ears to over our mouths?

God sends His Spirit to convict us, to prove us wrong about sin, justice, and condemnation (Jn 16:8). When we repent, our ears open and our mouths close. The Spirit also heals us. We no longer fear the pain of hearing the truth. Ostriches with heads in the sand, turtles with heads in their shells, and people with heads in sin, hurt, and fear — how can we hear? Only by the Spirit (Zec 4:6). “When He comes...being the Spirit of truth He will guide you to all truth” (Jn 16:13).

 
Prayer: Father, I’m sorry for locking myself up in my sin and refusing to come out.
Promise: “God may well have overlooked bygone periods when men did not know Him; but now He calls on all men everywhere to reform their lives.” —Acts 17:30
Praise: The quiet time that Joyce spends listening in adoration has been the best spent time in her otherwise busy life.
 

26 posted on 05/03/2005 11:31:30 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation
Appears to be a diptych. This is the link to the full scale image, where you can see the inscription and the artist's signature.

Link

In it in Uffizi gallery in Florence. Tempera on canvas, 45 x 38 and 46 x 37 cm.

World Gallery of Art, http://www.wga.hu is a good web resource.

27 posted on 05/04/2005 12:20:36 AM PDT by annalex
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To: All

FEAST OF THE DAY

Little is known about the life of St. Philip other than what is
mentioned in the Gospel of John. Philip was one of the first apostles
called by Jesus and called the town of Bethsaida home. After
receiving his call to follow the Lord, Philip went to Nathaniel to
proclaim the Good News that the Messiah had come. St. Philip is
mentioned throughout the life of Jesus and the early Church. It was
Philip who answered Jesus when the Apostles were questioned on
how to feed the multitudes, it was Philip who, at the Last Supper,
asked the Lord to show the Father, and it was Philip who converted
the Ethiopian eunuch.

As the Church began to spread throughout the world, Philip traveled
to Phyrigia. While he was preaching in the city of Hierapolis, Philip
was arrested and sentenced to death by crucifixion. After following
Christ even to death, Philip's body was taken away by the faithful
and buried. His relics were translated to Rome and placed in the
church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the year 590.


James the Lesser, also known as "the Just" for his piety, was the
second of the two James called by the Lord to be an Apostle. There
is very little known about the life of St. James, and he receives light
treatment in the gospels. The Church ascribes an Epistle of the New
Testament to his authorship. It is supposed that James was a close
relative of Jesus and thought to perhaps even be a cousin. St. Paul
describes James as a "pillar" of the Church.

After the Resurrection of the Lord, James was made leader of the
Christians in Jerusalem and faced constant threats upon his life.
Jews took various actions against the early Christians to stop the
movement and it was one of these actions that killed St. James. After
being summoned to appear before the Sanhedrin James was
condemned and forced to renounce the name of Jesus from a high
tower. When at the top of the tower, instead of denying Jesus' name,
James proclaimed it loudly. He was thrown to the ground and then
stoned to death for this profession of Faith.

St. Philip and St. James together are the patrons of Uruguay and St.
James is the patron of the dying.




QUOTE OF THE DAY

Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now
on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Master
show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to
him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not
know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How
can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in
the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I
do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his
works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or
else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say
to you, whoever believes in me will do the greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my
name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you
ask anything of me in my name, I will do it. -Jn 14:5-14




TODAY IN HISTORY

1512 The Fifth Lateran Council opens




TODAY'S TIDBIT

The Fifth Lateran Council was the eighteenth ecumenical council of
the Church. It was convened by Pope Julius II and closed by Pope
Leo X. In the twelve sessions between 1512 and 1517 the council,
among other things, condemned erroneous teachings concerning the
nature of the human soul and stated doctrine concerning
indulgences. The council reflected concern for abuses in the Church
and the need for reforms but failed to take decisive action in the
years immediately preceding the Reformation.




INTENTION FOR THE DAY

As the school year begins to come to a close for students across the
United States and around the world, pleas pray that these people
may use the summer months to deepen their relationship with God.


28 posted on 05/25/2005 7:39:02 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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