Upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. This promise of Christ Jesus holds fast to this very day two thousand plus years later. And our Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is built upon this very foundation. Yes indeed the gates of hell will not overcome it because we do not freely pick and choose what we want to believe. We have a Magisterium and our Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit ever since the day of Pentecost.
Over the centuries many have sought to extinguish the light of our Church but through the blood of the Martyrs we flourished and grew. Because we clung to the promises of Jesus Christ our Lord, lived our lives according to the Gospel and professed His life, death and Resurrection to all. The Apostles St Philip and St James whose feast day we celebrate, reminds us all that by their examplary lives;we are not called to be followers but disciples after our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen Alleluia
First reading
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 †
The Lord appeared to James, and then to all the apostles
Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.
Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.
Gospel
John 14:6-14
To have seen me is to have seen the father
Jesus said to Thomas:
‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.
If you know me, you know my Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him ‘and you still do not know me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name,
I will do it.’
CatholicJules.net 