Today’s feast of the apostles Philip and James shows me that—in my own time and place and manner—I am a herald and apostle of the gospel of Jesus. St. Paul reminds us of the personal challenge to hand on what we have received— the message and method of the Risen Lord. After all, it is Jesus who assures us that he is “the way and the truth and the life.”

As we continue to celebrate Easter, each of us receives the grace to figure out what shape that gospel witness will take…perhaps on the job with a co-worker, or at home with those I live. Maybe the spirit of Easter takes hold in my volunteer outreach to someone in need. For any of these good people, my service helps others find Jesus as their “way and truth and life.”

This first Saturday of May, as we honor Mary, the mother of Jesus, we ask her to strengthen our commitment to living the gospel. And we go forward in the spirit of the apostles Philip and James, and that of our newest saints—St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II.

—The Jesuit Prayer Team