At the time of this article’s publication, we will have just elapsed the feast of the Apostles Saint Philip and Saint James. The latter of these, James the Lesser (deemed as such solely because he was younger in age than Saint James, the son of Zebedee) is known as the first Bishop of Jerusalem and as the author of the Epistle of James found in the New Testament. His story is of particular interest in how it differed from that of his fellow Apostles. After the Ascension of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Christ’s other Apostles journeyed to the ends of the known world – from what we know as India in the East to Spain in the West, and Ukraine in the North to Ethiopia in the South. Conversely, Saint James remained in Jerusalem, the capital city of his ancestral lands. Though due to the charism of his mission and not a government-mandated quarantine, much like us James, in essence, stayed home.
However, this does not mean he refused the call that all Christians receive to evangelize. On the contrary, it was his specific mission to remain home and evangelize those there who had not yet heard the Good News. Fulfilling this mission, he was eventually martyred, just as all his fellow Apostles, save Saint John. Knowing his call to stay home and subsequent martyrdom, we gleen the necessity of his work on the home front. Though graced by the presence of Christ himself, the people of Judea still rejected Him and had yet to turn towards the Truth. They still needed an Apostle.
At the end of this month, we will celebrate the feast of another great Saint, also known for staying home: Saint Philip Neri (a different Philip from the one sharing the feast day with St. James). Though born in Florence, Rome became his home and the center of his evangelical work. Renowned for his affable and humorous personality, Saint Philip was integral in revitalizing the city’s Catholic populace in the midst of the Reformation. He dedicated his life to driving out the rampant corruption in Rome’s Church and healing the moral poverty of the populace. It was not through fire and brimstone that he found success in his mission, but rather through friendship and simple dialogue with the cities’ inhabitants. In doing so, he founded the Oratorians: a society of priests committed to evangelizing and serving through the same means and example of Philip himself. He has since been dubbed, alongside Saints Peter and Paul, an “Apostle of Rome.”
If you haven’t noticed, we are all stuck at home. States across our nation are under various degrees of lockdown, and countries across the world are very much the same. Though limited to our homes instead of entire cities, we find ourselves forced into a position strikingly similar to that St. James and St. Philip willingly undertook. These are trying times where keeping the faith has become a challenge. Most of us are separated from the Mass and the other Sacraments. It is tough enough being Christians for ourselves, much less Christians for each other. We may even feel like our duties as Christians are on hold, that we can just put them off until the world returns to normal. This, however, is not the case. Each day of our lives is meant to be lived for Christ. So, we must continue to pray. We must continue to fight sin and temptation. And, we must continue to evangelize. This last point is made abundantly clear through the example of both St. James the Lesser and St. Philip Neri.
One thing, among many, we can learn from these two great saints is that our home turf is never perfect. As Jerusalem, the city where Christ walked, and Rome, the Mother City of the entire Church, needed St. James and St. Philip as their respective attendants, serving and nurturing their inhabitants, so too do our homes require us to attend to them. Perhaps, you have a sibling, parent, or child who has fallen away from the faith. My own brother has strayed from the Church - a brother whom I hope one day to bring home. Well, this time of quarantine is inviting us to reach out and, in our forced closeness, engage with whoever these lost sheep may be and draw them back to Christ. Such engagement could be a discussion, but it can also simply be the example of patiently bearing our hardships, avoiding frustration and anger, and living virtuous lives within our households. Take the time to consider how God might be calling you to evangelize your family.
Still yet, there are ways to evangelize our homes themselves. What around your house is distracting you from God? Is it an obsession with video games or other worldly pleasures? Is it porn on your phone? Perhaps, you have a surplus of unhealthy foods? Are there unnecessary clothes and other various items you don’t require that could be donated to the less fortunate? These are all things, using this time within our homes, we can expunge from the physical space around us, and thus prevent from invading our spiritual lives. Improving the space around us not only practically provides means to keep us busy during quarantine, but can also assist us, and our families, in living holier lives. It could even be as simple as hanging a crucifix on the wall. Though I’ve only provided a few examples, there are countless more ways we need to attend to our homes and the things within them.
Following the example of Saint James the Lesser and Saint Philip Neri, let us devoutly take up our mantle to evangelize our homes - to be Apostles of our confined spaces and those within them. This is not a time to be idle. This is not a time to wait. For, one day, we will have to return to the world outside and, if we have done our due diligence at home, we may more effectively carry that devout spirit we’ve cultivated out into the world – a world starved for Christ.