Today we are celebrating the feast of Saints Philip and James. Reflecting on the gospel I’m struck by how much the disciples are still struggling to understand Jesus’ message. Both Thomas and Philip are courageous enough to be open about their confusion. They both ask questions that I suspect were also in everybody else’s mind, and that certainly seem perfectly reasonable questions in the circumstances. Philip says:
“Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.”
Jesus’ response can be as puzzling for us as it must have been for Philip. He says:
“To have seen me is to have seen the Father.”
Thomas adds his own question to the conversation:
“How can we follow you if we don’t know the way?”
Once again, Jesus’ response to his question, is not straightforward:
“Jesus said to Thomas, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life….’”
It strikes me that both Philip and Thomas get answers that need reflection and discernment if we are to understand what Jesus is saying. It’s easy to take his words at face value, admitting that that yes, these are the answers we need. It’s much harder to discern what that means for our lives.
It seems to me Jesus’ response is calling us to pay attention, to notice what is going on around us if we want to be able to follow Jesus, the Way. His words point us back to the way he lived, to the way he engaged with people, especially those on the margins of society. His words are called to look around us and see where we can follow his example in the way we treat those we encounter.
In this hard, long year of pandemic we’ve seen and are still seeing much that shows us what it means to follow Christ. In the many kindnesses and sacrifices that people have made to support their neighbours we can glimpse what it means to see the Jesus in our midst and to follow his example. As we begin to ease restrictions that call to attentiveness becomes even more important.
As we journey through Eastertide where are you being shown the way to become Christlike?