Sainthood Sunday is a regular feature from Todd Lemieux’s www.sainthoodandsurrender.com. Todd Lemieux is a Catholic speaker and writer and co-author of  100 Things Every Catholic Teen Should Know. You can find out more about Todd’s ministry and find more of his writing on his website.

Sainthood Sunday: St. Philip

by Todd Lemieux
I love reading the Gospels for the simple reason that the Apostles remind me of how many times I miss the obvious points that Jesus places in my way. Here are a bunch of guys that the world didn’t pay any mind to and they make it clear why the world didn’t pay much attention to them most of the time.

Sure, a lot of people like to point to Peter. Never caught any fish. Usually getting the answer wrong. In the end, becomes the Pope.

We don’t tend to look at Philip in this way. There is a situation in the Gospels where Jesus tells the group that if they were to know “myself, they would know the Father.” Philip tries to prove to Jesus that he not only is the smartest kid in the class, but that he can come up with answers faster than anyone, jumping to the conclusion in order to prove to the group how smart he is.

“Well, Jesus, just show us the Father and that will be enough!”

Just like me, looking for the shortcut. Looking for the cheat code.

Can I get to Heaven “without” Jesus? Can I come to an intimate relationship with God without knowing Jesus? Can I ignore the Messiah that is placed in front of me and simply jump to the conclusion? Can I ignore all the “messy stuff” that Jesus talked about and simply jump to the whole “God is love” part and just be with God?

Do you blame Philip at this point? Jesus does.

Looking at Philip, he simply says, “I’ve been with you this whole time and you don’t know me?”

The rest of the dialogue fades into history, to be known when we reach Heaven, but I can imagine Peter at the back of the group whispering to Philip as he turned red, “Nice going, Phil! Way to show us how smart you are!”

We are just like Philip. We think we know all the answers. We think there are shortcuts. We think that we can justify our own actions by twisting the words of Jesus around to fit some ideal that is going to make us look good. In the end it is quite simple.

Know Jesus, know God.

How do you know Jesus?

Read or listen to the Gospels.

Pray.

Receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Yet somehow we tend to make it all complicated and sit around in our prayer and ask God to show us some type of miracle, to make clear his reasons to us so that we could finally understand the secrets of the universe. Jesus answers us simply…

Know me, know the Father.

I’m here, know me.

Thanks St. Philip!

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