Daily Reflection Feast of St. Philip and St. James

As we continue to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection, Scripture reminds us that Easter is not a one-time event. The nineteenth century Jesuit poet, Gerard Manly Hopkins, penned the words, “Let him easter in us.” These words confirm that the Resurrection is not a solitary action. If we allow God, we can experience Easter on a daily basis.
 
   In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reiterates that Jesus really wanted him to be his disciple. Previously, Paul had used his personality and political influence to imprison the followers of Jesus. Then God pulled—or yanked—Paul out of his comfort zone. Paul allowed the Spirit to work within him. He then realized that Jesus and his followers were not a scandal to the Jewish faith, but the fulfillment of it. In other words, Paul allowed God to easter in him!
 
     In today’s gospel, Philip asks Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus responds to Philip, “Whoever sees me has seen the Father.” Through Philip, Jesus is inviting each one of us to re-evaluate our relationship with our God. We may look around at our world, our cities, even our own neighborhoods and witness people engaging in continual violence. It is very easy to become emotionally embroiled in both verbal and physical violence. But Jesus reminds us that we have the Father. Hopkins also reminds us that God will easter in us, if we allow this transformation.
 
    I picture Paul giving a homily today at my parish Mass. He encourages each of us to be open, to allow ourselves to become inundated with the grace that God desires to give us—to allow God to easter in us.
 
     We don’t read Scripture for intellectual satisfaction. No, we read and pray over Scripture, so that the inspired words will become a part of us and change our negative thinking and behavior into life-giving acceptance. Just as Paul finally responded to God in accepting the Jewish people’s turning to Jesus, so we are invited—sometimes yanked—out of our comfort zones to accept differences in individuals. Whether these differences are color of skin, different language, economic disparity, sexual orientation, or faith tradition, we respond to Jesus’ words: “Whoever sees me has seen the Father.”     
 
Let him easter in us,
be a dayspring to the dimness of us.
                                                                                                 --Gerard Manley Hopkins