Do you know St. Philip?

Let's talk about St. Philip, one of the twelve apostles. We can learn many wonderful things from Philip about what it means to walk in fellowship with Christ and live out our calling from God as Catholics and Christians.

Highlights

By Deacon Frederick Bartels
3/3/2023 (1 year ago)

Published in Living Faith

Keywords: Saint, St. Philip, Apostle, 12 Apostles Journey

We of course begin with Jesus because we cannot understand Philip or God's call in our own life apart from our Lord and Savior. The gospel of John tells us that while Jesus was visiting the town of Bethsaida, he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me" (John 1:43). Notice that Jesus sought out Philip and found him. In other words, Jesus wanted Philip to be involved in his life and mission.

Jesus' call to "Follow me," obviously had a deep, lasting impact on Philip. We know this because the first thing he does is set out to find his friend Nathaniel. After finding him, Philip enthusiastically says to Nathaniel, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:45). Philip is basically saying, "We have found the Messiah, the one we've been longing for all our lives!"

When Nathaniel hears that Jesus is from Nazareth, he quips, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46). The reason Nathaniel reacts this way is because Nazareth was a tiny, unimportant village. How could the Messiah come from such a place? In response, Philip replies, "Come and see." Nathaniel did just that. And his life was forever changed.

"Come and see." Inviting others to "come and see" Jesus became the central theme of Philip's ministry for the rest of his life. Philip's mission was to invite as many people as possible to come and see Jesus, to meet the Messiah and Savior.

We know also that Philip was a practical man. We know this because of how he responded to Jesus when they were confronted with a crowd of five thousand hungry people at the sea of Tiberias (John 6:1-14). When Jesus asked Philip about buying them bread, which was actually a question designed to invite Philip to greater faith, Philip explained it would cost six months' wages to feed the crowd. That, of course, was true. However, Jesus had the divine power to feed the crowd by multiplying five barley loves and two fish. And that is exactly what he did!

Although Philip was practical, he was also a man of tremendous faith. When Jesus asked him to help distribute the loaves and fish, he did so without complaint, trusting that Jesus not only knew what he was doing, but had the power to feed the entire crowd of five thousand.

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Philip's faith in Jesus remained with him throughout his entire ministry. It was so strong it saw him through many challenging, dark years of persecution. Despite the danger and difficulties, he worked miracles and proclaimed the Gospel to those he met. So great was Philip's conviction in spreading the good news of the saving Gospel, that he came to be called "The Evangelist."

When Philip was finally arrested and condemned for his faith in Christ, legend tells us that the crowd tried to save him. Christians loved Philip and they didn't want to lose him. But he warned them away, allowing himself to be martyred.

St. Philip willingly gave his life for Jesus Christ because he believed in the promises of our Lord and Savior. And because Jesus is God, we know he keeps his promises.

"Gospel" is a word which literally means, "good news." Proclaiming the saving Gospel is the work of Catholic Online School, which provides a free, world-class Catholic Education for anyone, anywhere. It's the appropriate response to Jesus' call: "Follow me."

Now, like Philip, you too are called to an Apostolate. Your mission is to help us teach others the richness, beauty, and tradition of our Catholic faith. You see, there are tens of thousands of families who need to know Jesus. They need to know about their faith.

We are asking you to honor the 12 Apostles by joining in their ongoing apostolic mission of the whole Church. How? By praying, learning from St Philip, saying yes to the call of Jesus in your own life, engaging in the mission to evangelize and teach the faith, and by giving $12 a month.

The Mission of Catholic Online School is to provide a free, world-class Catholic education for anyone, anywhere. We now have 1,000,000 (Yes, One Million) Student Enrollments from 193 Countries worldwide.

Please, contribute $12 a month to support this Apostolate.