May 17, 2026: 7th Sunday of Easter

We hear God's promise that He will abide with us in the Holy Spirit.

So we look to God as He unfolds this promise.

Furthermore, we ground ourselves in the revelations of God made in Jesus Christ.

Even now we experience Eternal Life because through these revelations, we have come to know God, and we can trust God and count on Him to continue making Himself known as He leads us deeper into the Mystery of Himself.

May 17, 2026: Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Christ appeared to His Apostles and disciples for 40 days after His Resurrection, so that they would embrace the reality of His Risen Presence.

It was a mystery that they would still need to understand more, since they asked Jesus about the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel.

Even in the scene in the Gospel reading, the Apostles go to the mountain in Galilee to meet Jesus, doubting, yet also worshipping Him.

He instead told them to seek the great power that would come upon them, which would send them on mission to build God's Kingdom over all the world.

Then Jesus was lifted up from them.  He was out of sight, and their relationship with Him entered a new phase, in which they would experience His mystical Presence abiding within them as they carried out His mission.  The men in white came to help point them to this new reality.

So Jesus continues to abide with His church, and that is our hope.  By His Ascension, He is our Exalted Head, and He is at work as we heed His command stated in the Great Commission at the end of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them.  We do this because He remains powerfully with us so that the world may know the reality of God with us.  He Who came as the promised Emmanuel, God with us, makes this promise clear again as He makes Himself mystically and powerful present.

May 10, 2026: 6th Sunday of Easter

We continue to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ because His Risen Presence abides with us in the Spirit, Who enables us to be in tune with God's Presence, so that we always know that God has not left us orphans.  And we proclaim what Christ has done, and, as St. Peter writes, we may "sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts" as we live in hope and testify to it with reverence and gentleness, thus showing how God is active in us.

Furthermore, we truly experience God's love when we obey His commandments, which keep us in tune with God's life.  It is the love we share in our earthly relationship that makes God real, especially as we celebrate Mothers' Day.

He further supports us by the Spirit He sends to be our Advocate, so that we know that as the Father and the Son are in each other, God is in us.  (Truth is something I have in mind as I celebrate the 10th anniversary of my MLIS graduation in the Dominican University community.)

The Spirit is the great revelation of how God is alive in us, and we can live in joy, testifying to God's marvelous works.  This joy truly comes from the Risen Christ, and it is our joy that has no end.

May 3, 2026: 5th Sunday of Easter

We see in Christ the path to continue following in the new way of Life the Resurrection has made possible for us.

In the powerfully rich part of the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus has so much to say to us about our relationship with Him, declaring Himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life", Who fully reveals the Father to us.  Because of the Resurrection, we no longer need to fear, because Christ has opened for us the presence of God, which we will experience in fullness one day, and we experience even now.

God has transformed us to be a holy people who offer spiritual sacrifices in praise of our Savior Jesus Christ, Who died and rose again for us, just like St. Peter writes in the 2nd reading.

This reality helps us to see the needs of the world and work to meet them, as described by a situation in the first reading when the early Church had to find the best way to address a gap in supporting those in need and work to effectively assist them.

Furthermore, Jesus remains mystically present with us, doing even greater works.  It's amazing to realize that Jesus can be at work all over the world making His Presence known.  Today we celebrate the birthday of St. Carlo Acutis, who created a website on Eucharistic miracles, proclaiming the glorious Presence of God with us through a medium that makes it worldwide, and did so much else to evangelize.  Truly, God is alive and active among us as we cooperate with His grace that expands upon the earthly ministry of Jesus.

Like St. Peter writes in the 2nd reading, we are all living stones, each of us taking our part in the Church of God, upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, so we may live to the praise and glory of God.

April 26, 2026: 4th Sunday of Easter/Good Shepherd Sunday

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, Who leads us on the path to Eternal Life.  He has served as a faithful Shepherd even to the point of laying down His life.

It is sobering to realize that our sins were the reason He was crucified, as the audience in Acts is "cut to the heart".  Yet they don't stay in a state of guilt.  They ask what they should do.  They heed St. Peter's call to repent and change their lives through baptism so they could receive forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit to guide them in the ways that lead back to their Shepherd.  Amazingly, 3000 people joined the Church that day.

With our Good Shepherd's guidance, we need no longer fear the troubles of this world.  Instead, we listen for the voice of our Good Shepherd, and follow His way to Eternal Life.  In following this path in this life, we can experience the Abundant Life that comes from our relationship with God as He fills us with abundant graces that give us true purpose.  So we rejoice that Christ is alive and powerfully present with us.

We give thanks for those who have responded to the call of the Good Shepherd to take on leadership roles in the Church.  As I near the anniversary of my baptism, I recall Father Pacocha, who baptized me.  While he has recently departed Earth for the realm of Eternity, I give thanks for his dedicated service to the church.  He is an example of a leader who reveals the heart of Jesus Christ, Who cares deeply for His sheep.

April 25, 2026: Feast of St. Mark

The Good News proclaiming the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ sends us forth.

We are meant to testify to what God has done in our lives and preach it to the world.

God continues to accompany us and as He displays signs that He is working through us as we take the Gospel forth.

It is for all the world.  Like a lion, we proclaim it boldly.

April 19, 2026: 3rd Sunday of Easter

The Risen Christ appears in powerful ways in the days after His Resurrection.

The two disciples on the way to Emmaus struggle with what has happened.  Christ comes alongside them, and seeks to help them understand the new reality in which they've entered.

They feel stirred by Christ, and then they recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.  It's a scene I saw on display, of all places, in the parlor of Montpelier, the estate of James Madison--please see photo below.

Indeed, Christ is present powerfully in the Eucharist, because He was the Lamb Who shed His blood and was slain, but then came back to Life to be powerfully present with us.

And exalted to the right hand of God, He has sent forth the Holy Spirit to make this Good News a reality in us.  It's Good News I have seen in a special way this day as I've served as a Confirmation sponsor for the first time in my life, one of my greatest dreams.

We no longer fear death, because we are alive in Christ.  We keep growing in this new Life as we open ourselves to the ways that the Risen Christ is present around us, and we respond to this reality, putting faith in action.