This past Friday we celebrated the feast of two apostles together, Saints Philip and James the Lesser. Lesser here means “Younger.” The reason why we celebrate them together is because their relics were brought to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome and buried there together in the ninth century.
Similarly, on October 28 the feast of Saint Simon and Jude are celebrated together, because their relics are interred together in the Basilica of St. Peter. While it certainly would be fitting for us to celebrate these apostles individually, as we do the other apostles, it is fitting to remember them as a pair, since when Jesus initially sent out the twelve to proclaim his kingdom by words and deeds, he sent them out in pairs. Many spiritual writers believe that Philip and James were sent out as a pair – as a team – to proclaim the Gospel – and this is another reason they’ve been linked together as brothers in Christ.
St. Gregory the Great once commented that the reason why Jesus sent out the apostles to proclaim the Gospel two-by-two even though they could have theoretically covered twice as much ground if he had sent them out individually was so that as they proclaimed the Gospel, they would be able to learn and show how to minister in communion – to celebrate and be grateful for the God-given gifts they had, and also to be humble in recognizing the God-given gifts the other person has. We are all called to do great things for the Lord. Every Christian is called to build the kingdom of God. Christ came to serve and He is our model of how to live and how to love. He is the model of how to accept and to carry our crosses, and how to sacrifice for others. The opportunity to serve the Lord is a privilege for it helps us to grow in God’s likeness and image.
Whatever our gifts happen to be, and we all have a variety, we are expected to make full use of them for God’s glory. This is a universal call to be energetic in living the Gospel positively and enthusiastically, by reaching beyond what we think is possible.