Sunday, May 10, 2026

 

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER(Mother's Day) 

(Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21)

Today is Mother’s Day, not only here but in many countries around the world. Because mothers have played such a vital role in our lives, it is worth reflecting on their spiritual contribution to us.  By "spiritual" we mean our orientation toward God. We want to examine how our mothers have helped us draw closer to Him?  Let’s look at the readings we have just heard for some principles of the spiritual life and apply them to the role of motherhood through examples from Scripture and the lives of the saints.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows Peter and John praying for the converts in Samaria to receive the Holy Spirit. The Apostles want them to offer the thanks and praise to God that characterize the Spirit. In the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth is described as being "filled with the Holy Spirit" when Mary visits her. The mother of John the Baptist exalts God when she declares Mary and the child in her womb "blessed." Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine, similarly praised the Lord for her son's conversion.  She told her son: "One thing only did I desire... that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. My God has exceeded this abundantly, so that I see you now even despising earthly happiness and consecrated to His service." Our mothers taught us how to give thanks and praise to God when they taught us the Lord's Prayer.

In his letter, the Apostle Peter counsels his readers to be "ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." As Christians, we seek to evangelize others with truthful and solid explanations. This reminds me of the Canaanite mother who gave the Lord a compelling reason to cast the demon out of her daughter. Saint Perpetua was a mother when she was arrested for being a Christian. In her diary she wrote how she explained to her father that she preferred to suffer martyrdom rather than apostatize. Our mothers taught us how to defend the faith when they answered our earnest questions, such as: "Where do we go when we die?"

Today's Gospel urges us to love Christ by keeping His commandments. His first commandment is to love God above all things. In the Second Book of Maccabees, we read about a widowed mother who watched each of her seven sons be martyred. She consoled her youngest and last to be killed: "The Creator of the universe... will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his laws" (II Mac 7:22-23). In the last century, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian physician, refused a treatment that would have saved her own life but destroyed the life of her unborn baby. It was an act of selfless love for God as much as for her daughter. For many of us, our mothers were the first to teach us to follow God's will by obeying our consciences.  They would tell us: "Let your conscience be your guide."

When the children of one family asked their mother what she would like for Mother’s Day, Christmas, or her birthday, she invariably responded: "Good children." It is true. To please our mothers, we need only develop virtue so that we live justly amidst the evil of this world. We may add that living virtuously includes the Fourth Commandment: "Honor your father and your mother."

 

 

Thursday, May 14, 2026

 

Feast of Saint Matthias, apostle

(Acts 1:15-17.20-26; John 15:9-17)

Today’s reading from Acts gives us hope and a warning.  Peter proclaims, “’The Scripture had to be fulfilled.’”  He is referring to Psalm 41 which says: “Even the friend who had my trust, who shared my table, has scorned me.”  But his statement also rings true generally.  Scripture, the Word of God, will be fulfilled.  It includes the good news that God exonerates us from sin and alleviates the fear deep within that our sins and shortcomings will ruin us.

Peter’s message implies that those of us who betray Jesus will be punished.  Whether because they do not follow Jesus’ teachings or because they absolutely reject Jesus as Lord, betrayers will be ousted from the community of the saved.  This judgment may sound harsh until we realize all the ways Jesus has favored us.

Do you suppose Matthias was happy to be chosen to replace Judas?  Maybe not!  The apostles were told that they would suffer the fate of Jesus, which meant a violent death. Yet he promised as well that he would accompany them until the end.  This promise has become Scripture to be fulfilled.  With Jesus at our side the good news-bad news we hear from Peter become our assurance of overcoming the trials we face.

Friday, May 8, 2026

 

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

Sr. Marie Chin was a Sister of Mercy from Jamaica who became famous as a speaker on the spirituality of mercy.  She told the story of how she discovered mercy with the help of a leper.  When she was in secondary school she accompanied a woman religious to a leper colony.  Knocking on the door of one of the huts, they heard a voice from inside say, “Come in.” Entering, she saw something that repulsed her.  The leper, named Miss Lillian, had a completely deformed face.  When she stretched out her arm, which was little more than a stump without fingers, to the youth, Marie was taken aback again.  “Go on,” Miss Lillian prodded, “put your hand in mine.”  Marie responded, “I can’t; I’m afraid.”  The leper woman said, “Yes, you can.”  Marie said that she did not know where the grace came to touch the rotten flesh, but suddenly she was shaking hands with the leper. The story may help us to understand why Jesus has to command us to love one another.

As anyone over twenty should realize, love is often not easy.  Fyodor Dostoyevsky called love in action “a harsh and dreadful thing.”  Love, after all, requires commitment and often suffering as well.  We could never love everybody, and some of us might never love anybody without Jesus’ command.  We also need Jesus’ help to accomplish the seemingly impossible feat of loving as he loved. 

Let us not worry if we do not feel affection for others.  Affection is not of the essence of love.  We must, however, treat everyone with respect.  Those for whom we feel a particular repulsion we can, at least, pray for.  We pray that they receive God’s grace to become better people and to know His eternal love.

 

Thursday, May 7, 2026

 

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:7-21; John 15:9-11)

The primitive Church community faces a monumental problem in today’s reading from Acts. Should it set aside the Jewish law that has given its members a sense of distinctiveness, rectitude, and stability to accept new members who for good reason cannot abide by the rule?  The Church here is not alone in confronting a dilemma imposed by the law.  In the play Billy Budd, the protagonist -- as innocent a soul as ever existed -- is tried for an infraction that carries a death sentence. Budd did what was prohibited by law, but the circumstances seem to excuse him.

Maliciously accused by an officer of mutiny, Budd’s speech impediment incapacitated him from defending himself verbally.  To protest the lie, Budd struck the officer who fell to the floor, hit his head, and died.  The jury must decide if Budd is guilty of striking an officer.  Similarly in the first reading, the governing body of apostles and presbyters must decide whether God permits willing but uncircumcised men into the community of disciples.  Peter provides the winning argument.  He tells the jury that circumcision, the traditional sign of faith, is not the only sign.  Rather evidence of being moved by the Holy Spirit provides even greater evidence of a person’s faith.  

After James, the leader of the community, indicates agreement with Peter, the leadership decides to allow admittance of uncircumcised men to the community.  In contrast, Billy Budd is hanged for his action.  We are chastened to be very discerning about how we judge.  Rules need not dictate every case.  Rather intent and other circumstances may affect culpability.

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:1-6; John 15:1-8)

“Mary’s Meals” sounds like a local church outreach to impoverished homebound people.  The reality, however, is that the organization feeds three million children a day at educational sites in seventeen underdeveloped countries.  The organization was founded by a Catholic Scotsman as the fruit of his devotion to the Blessed Mother.  It exemplifies the abundant fruit on the branches in today’s gospel parable.

Jesus uses the image of a vine and branches to indicate the potential of his love.  Staying connected to Jesus, disciples receive a copious supply of his love.  Nourished by that love, they will do much good.  Disciples are under the Father’s care.  He will prune them of defects that hinder fructification.  But disciples must stay connected to Jesus through Scripture and the sacraments.  If they wander from him, their fruit will taste like bitter grapes.

Sometimes our lives become very busy.  We have a dozen things to do and very little time.  We may have to limit our prayer, but we should never eliminate it.  Quite the contrary, we should pray as we begin to address the demands before us and periodically turn to Jesus in our activity.  Keeping Jesus in mind will make our work abundantly worthwhile.