In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles, Saint Joseph.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It says about St. Philip and James that, at least for St. James, he is the patron of hat makers.
I don't know what St. Philip is, but St. James is the patron of hat makers.
St. Philip, a native of Bethsaida in Galilee.
Galilee was called by our Lord the day after St. Peter and St. Andrew.
We learn from tradition that he was then a married man, and that he had several daughters,
three of whom reached eminent sanctity.
Like the other apostles, St. Philip left all things to follow Christ.
His name is frequently mentioned in the Holy Gospels.
After the ascension of his divine master, St. Philip preached the gospel
in that part of Asia Minor called Phrygia, which was then a province of the Roman Empire.
It is supposed that he was buried at Hieropolis in Phrygia.
St. James the Less, author of the first Catholic epistle, was the son of Alphaeus of Cleophas.
His mother Mary was either a sister or a close relative of the Blessed Virgin,
and for that reason, according to Jewish custom,
he was sometimes called the Holy Spirit.
He was also called the brother of the Lord.
The apostle held a distinguished position in the early Christian community of Jerusalem,
and St. Paul tells us he was a witness of the resurrection of Christ.
He is also called a pillar of the church, whom St. Paul consulted about the gospel.
According to tradition, he was the first bishop of Jerusalem,
and was at the Council of Jerusalem about the year 50.
The historian Eusebius said,
St. Eusebius relates that St. James was martyred for the faith by the Jews in the spring of the year 62,
although they greatly esteemed his person and had given him the surname of James the Just.
Tradition has always recognized him as the author of the epistle that bears his name.
And it says that the date of his writing of this gospel,
is not exactly determined.
According to some, it was written around 49 AD,
and others claim it was later.
St. James addresses himself to the twelve tribes that are in the dispersion,
that is, to Christians outside Palestine.
But nothing in the epistle indicates that he is thinking only of Jewish Christians.
St. James realizes full well the temptations and difficulties
that they encounter in the midst of paganism,
and as a spiritual father, he endeavors to guide and direct them in the faith.
Therefore, the burden of his discourse in his letter is an exhortation to practical Christian living.
St. Philip and James are
two of the Apostles who, as we
continue to celebrate the year of faith, it's upon the Apostles that our faith rests.
That, you know, St. James was martyred
even though he was greatly admired.
So, I guess that doesn't say too much for admiration.
That better to, you know, just because people admire you one day,
doesn't mean that they won't martyr you the next.
And St. James and St. Philip,
although they are not as well known as the other Apostles,
still were greatly,
greatly much,
given the same task as the other Apostles in spreading the faith.
And they did whatever our Lord asked them to do.
And so today we honor them and we ask them to assist us,
that we too will have the graces we need to give witness, as St. James says,
in the midst of paganism, or in this case, neo-paganism.
We will have much that we will be, you know,
as the culture around us becomes more and more antagonistic towards
Christian and Catholic values,
we can expect to be persecuted for it.
Just like the news sportscast announcer
who spoke out in his defense of Christianity and, you know,
called homosexuality a sin.
They want him to be fired now because how dare anybody say that,
you know, my way of lifestyle might be a sin.
But that's, we have to be so bold and be so blunt at times
just to call things what they are.
And we pray for all those who are in any way in the public eye
that they will not be kowtowed or,
or bullied into accepting the politically correct attitude
that is out there so much in our world today.
Let us pray that through the intercession of St. Philip and James
that we too will give our witness to those around us
of the truth that exists despite and not because of us.
It exists because it is Christ and he is the truth.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.