Commontide
Liturgical Color: Red
The 3rd Sunday of Easter
Almighty God, you gave your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly living: Give us grace thankfully to receive his inestimable benefits, and daily to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Easter
But chiefly are we bound to praise you for the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; for he is the true Paschal Lamb, who was offered for us, and has taken away the sin of the world; who by his death has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again has won for us everlasting life.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
The 4th of Easter (Good Shepherd)
Apostles
Red Letter Day
Two of the Twelve, kept together on one day since the sixth century. Philip, of Bethsaida in Galilee, is the apostle of the Fourth Gospel: called with two words, sent to fetch Nathanael, tested before the loaves, asked by Greek pilgrims for a sight of Jesus, and answered at the Last Supper with the plainest word in John on seeing the Father in the Son. James, son of Alphaeus, appears four times in Scripture and only ever in a list. The West joined them by a shared shrine at Rome; the East keeps them apart to this day.
Philip was from Bethsaida (John 1:44), the hometown of Andrew and Peter. He appears prominently in John's Gospel, often in paired episodes. When Jesus called Philip directly ('Follow me'), Philip immediately found Nathanael and urged him to come, saying: '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). Though Nathanael initially balked—'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'—Philip persisted in his introduction, and Nathanael became a disciple.
At the feeding of the five thousand, when Jesus asked where bread could be purchased, Philip responded with practical arithmetic: 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little' (John 6:7)—a candid assessment of the logistical problem that sets up Jesus's miracle.
Philip's most significant moment occurs in John 14:8, at the Last Supper. Jesus has just said: 'If you know me, you will know my Father also.' Philip asks: 'Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied' (14:8). Jesus's reply—'Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father' (14:9)—reveals both a gentle rebuke and a profound Christological claim. Philip's straightforward request occasions one of the most important statements in John about the relationship between Jesus and God.
James the Less appears in all four apostolic lists, consistently paired with Philip (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13), often designated 'son of Alphaeus' or 'the less' (mikros, 'the smaller'—perhaps to distinguish him from James the Elder or James the Lord's brother). Beyond his inclusion in the Twelve and his presence in the upper room before Pentecost, the New Testament records nothing of his individual ministry.
Traditionally, Philip preached in Asia Minor and Phrygia, and James the Less is said to have led the church in Jerusalem and been martyred by crucifixion or by being beaten to death. The traditions are late and contradictory. Some sources identify James the Less with James the Lord's brother (though these are likely distinct figures). Philip's relics were claimed by various centers, and both apostles were venerated in Rome.