We read in the First Reading of the Mass of these two Apostles the words of St. Paul to the first Christians of Corinth: For the first thing I delivered to you, as I received it, was this: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, that he appeared to Cephas..... Paul received from the Apostles a divine message which he in turn passed on. It was also the heritage of Philip and James, who gave their lives in witness to this truth. They, like the Apostle of the Gentiles, know well what should be the nucleus of their preaching: Jesus Christ, the Way to the Father. It is the Good News that is transmitted from generation to generation: day to day the message is passed on, night to night it is whispered, as we read in the responsorial Psalm. We do not have new things to make known. It is the same Good News: that Christ died for our sins..., that he rose again...; that he lives at our side..., that he loves us as no one will ever be able to love us..., that he has destined us to a most blessed eternity with him..., whom we will see face to face.
This is our apostolate: to proclaim to every wind and in every possible way the same doctrine that the Apostles preached: that Christ lives and that He alone can calm the anxieties of the intelligence and the human heart, that only with Christ can one be happy, that He reveals the Father.... The Apostles, like us, encountered difficulties and obstacles in the extension of Christ's kingdom; and if they had waited for opportune occasions, that message that gives meaning to our existence would probably not have reached us. It is possible that in the face of the lack of means and the resistance of the people, the Apostles, and especially Philip, remembered that day when they found themselves faced with the great commitment of feeding a multitude, without having food or any way of acquiring it. Jesus saw that great multitude coming towards Him and said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? And Philip calculated, and answered the Master, Two hundred denarii of bread will not suffice for every man to eat a little. He has done the math, and the means they possess are far from covering the needs.
Jesus is moved and is filled with mercy once again before that multitude so in need of understanding and relief. But he also wants his disciples not to forget that he will always be at their side. I will be with you always, he will tell them at the end of his life here on earth. Philip, have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me? God is the indispensable sum that we have to count on to make the accounts work out. In our personal apostolate with friends, relatives, acquaintances, clients..., we have to count on the two hundred denarii, the human means, always insufficient, and we must not forget that Jesus is always present with his power and mercy. Now he is also at our side. The greater the need in the apostolate and the greater the personal difficulties, the more Jesus will help us. Let us not fail to turn to him.
Our Lady, our Mother, by her powerful intercession before God, always makes the way easier for us.