We read the first reading and think to ourselves how wonderful it must have been to have Jesus appear to His disciples! On the flip side, some would be fearful, even shocked! How should I greet Him, what do I say? Should I fall prostrate? Bow? Kneel? Shall I repeat the same words as St Peter, “Lord depart from me for I am a sinner!”
And yet how many times have Jesus already come before us and we had failed to recognise Him? For He had not left us orphans, indeed He had said these very words to us…” “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Deut 31:8 & Heb 13:5 So then how did we welcome Him? Were we reverent? Did we show love? Have we honoured and glorified Him by our lives? Leading all who come to us to the Way, the Truth and the Life; our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
For if we are living according to His will, then we are truly already One with God our Heavenly Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen Alleluia!
Saints Philip and St James pray for us…
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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.
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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.’
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