Feast of Sts. Philip and James, Apostles
Today we celebrate the feast of the Apostles Philip and James. Thanks to this we have a special Gospel passage for today. In this passage Philip tells Jesus, “show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Thanks to Philip, Jesus, in his response to Philip, brings some clarity to his relation with the Father. Jesus replies “the one who has seen me has seen the Father.” In a sense, when we see Jesus, we don’t really see him. Instead, we are seeing the Father. This brings to mind what Jesus says in Matthew 11:27, “no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him.”
When we see Jesus and know him, in a real sense who we are seeing is the Father, because Jesus is totally transparent and we see the Father through seeing and knowing him. This is an amazing thought: That we come to know God through knowing Jesus Christ!
But Jesus is also a human being, so when we see him, we are seeing a human being, but a human being who is God incarnate, and who is the perfect image of the Father. So suddenly God is not far away and beyond our understanding, but God stands before us in human flesh, and that we can at least somewhat know and understand. The most important thing to realize, is that if we want to be like God, we can be like Jesus Christ, and since he is a fellow human being, we can actually do that!
Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections