Philip

Philip   "The next day he decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, 'Follow me.'  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.
   "Philip found Nathanael and told him, 'We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.'
   "But Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come from Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'" (John 1:43-46)

Philip. From Bethsaida, as were Andrew and Peter. “The fifth apostle in Mark’s list, 3:18, is Philip. He is paired in Matthew with Bartholomew and presumably was his comrade and partner when Jesus sent them out to preach….Philip is only mentioned once in Mark, 3:18, in Matthew, 10:3, and in Luke, 6:14 [and John: 1:43-48; 6:5-7; 12:21-22; 14:8-9]. He also appears in the Acts, 1:13” (Edgar J. Goodspeed. The Twelve, The Story of Christ’s Apostles. New York: Collier Books, 1962. p. 49).

    St Philip, whose feast we celebrate with St James the Less on May 3, is believed to have been from Bethsaida on Lake Genesareth.  Philip was called to be a follower of Jesus on the very next day after He called Peter and Andrew.  Philip, in turn, brought Nathaniel to Jesus.  Before the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, it was to Philip that Jesus turned and asked, “Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?”  In this picture Philip is seen holding a basket with bread.  The lower window also shows the bread on either side of the cross, a symbol of his martyrdom.  In the top picture depicting symbols of obedience can be seen a donkey, the horns of an ox and a crown.  The donkey and ox are symbols of submission and the heavenly crown is the reward that awaits all who submit to the Will of the Father in the same way Jesus did.  (Compiled by Phyllis Evans)

Philip the Apostle, General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI, 09/06/06