It is 3rd May 2018. We celebrate the Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles. These two apostles taught us and supported the idea of Church being missionary and the community correspondingly. St. Philip promoted missionary aspect of the church by bringing people to Christ and leading them to God while St. James encouraged the community aspect of the church being the community leader of Jerusalem and allowed the non-Jews to come closer to Christ without undergoing circumcision. The Apostolic Exhortation of His Holiness Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi (14) reiterates, “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection.” In the same way, we are taught in The Mission of the Redeemer, Redemptoris Missio (51) Pope John Paul II taught us: “Every community, if it is to be Christian, must be founded on Christ and live in him, as it listens to the word of God, focuses its prayer on the Eucharist, lives in a communion marked by oneness of heart and soul, and shares according to the needs of its members (Acts 2:42-47). As Pope Paul VI recalled, every community must live in union with the particular and the universal Church, in heartfelt communion with the Church’s pastors and the Magisterium, with a commitment to missionary outreach and without yielding to isolationism or ideological exploitation.” The readings are from 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; and the Gospel from John 14:6-14. The first reading teaches us that we are saved by the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus revealed in the teachings from the Apostles. “Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” (1 Cor.15:8). The responsorial Psalm acclaims: “Their message goes out through all the earth.” (Ps.19:5). In the Gospel, Jesus explains to St. Philip about the Father and Jesus are one. To have experienced and seen Jesus is just like believing and experiencing the Father. Moreover, Jesus taught St. Philip that “He is the Way, the Truth and the Life,” (Jn.14:6) and no one could have any benefits in any manner without Jesus. “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” (Jn.14:13). May we come closer to Jesus and lead others to Him as a missionary in the community we live in. May you have a good day. God bless you.