Scripture Reflections for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

Year A, Lectionary 52


We are called into communion with the Holy Trinity. Jesus emphasizes that he and God the Father are united and Christ invites us to join into this divine relationship. He offers us this heavenly life if we follow him to the Father because Jesus is the way, the life and the truth. In that communion we are meant to also cooperate with each other as the early Church did, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them to overcome challenges so that the faith community can continue to grow.

Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: AccompanyApostlesCareChangeChosenChurchCommunionCommunityDeaconDiscipleDivinityEncourageEucharistFaithFocusHeavenHoly SpiritHoly TrinityJourneyLeadLifeLoveMarriageMinistryMosesMotherPeacePerspectivePrayerPriestRejectRelationshipRespondRevelationSacramentSalvationSecond ComngSightStoneStruggleTempleTrustTruthUnityWayWelcomeWitnessWomenWorry

Acts 6:1-7

“what are the needs around us today? Who are the Hellenist widows who cry out for ministry at their own tables? The young, the old, those in prison or hospital, those who crave the nourishment of the sacraments though they might not fit into our traditional structures. How will each of us respond? How will we reach out?”

Elizabeth Young, RSM | May 7, 2023

“Laying on of hands was a rite, it was a well-established rite that was used in the Old Testament to appoint men either to the priesthood like the sons of Aaron or to being Levites who were ministers who assisted the priests in the temple”

"Deacons in Acts 6" | Brant Pitre | May 29, 2020

“it was easy for the Hellenists to fall under or to fall into the blind spot of the Hebrews. It was easy for the Hebrews to take it for granted that all was well because as human beings we easily think that when things are well with us it means things are well with everybody.”

Fr. Emmanuel Ochigbo | May 1, 2023
Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
John 14:1-12

“Jesus's vision of heaven here is what? It's the life of the Trinity”

"I Am the Way" | Brant Pitre | May 4, 2020

“Jesus is more correct to say that the sacraments are actually greater miracles because what Jesus does during his public ministry visibly through his visible miracles is going to point forward to what God will do in the Apostles through the Holy Spirit invisibly in the mysteries of the sacraments”

"Greater Works Than These" | Brant Pitre | June 5, 2020

“he thought his problem was that he didn't have the answers but his problem was that his heart was troubled. We don't have to learn more, we have to trust more. And if we trust more then our hearts won't be troubled anymore.”

"Don't Let Your Hearts be Troubled" | Fr. Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ | May 7, 2023

“It is through his death on the cross that Jesus prepares a dwelling place for his disciples. This dwelling place is eternal life and communion with God.”

"The Way, the Truth and the Life" | Fr. Geoffrey Plant | April 30, 2023
Overall Readings

“To be chosen is not to say that 'I am better than you' and it is not to say that 'you are better than me.' To be chosen is to say 'I believe, I believe and I believe God will use me to do the hardest things which is to love, which is to forgive, which is to have compassion and to have mercy.”

Damian Torres-Botello, SJ | May 7, 2023

“we have to enter into the mystery that faith calls us to, not just to survive life but to deeply, truly live life”

Fr. John Paul Forté, OP | May 7, 2023

“We bring Christ wherever we are. We are given the work to carry on the mission of Christ in our time and in our various ways.”

Sr. Donna L. Ciangio, OP | April 16, 2020

“we need a better snapshot of what the church has been for us historically and what it is called to be in today's world”

Cynthia (Sam) Bowns | May 14, 2017

“There's people leading different roles but there is no leader aside from Jesus”

GatherClip | "Uniting ourselves to God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit" | Alex | May 8, 2023

“In our churches today are we bold enough to respond to the needs, to the cries and brokenness and wounds of our times. I think that that is the challenge of the gospel for us.”

Fr. Stan Chu Ilo | May 2, 2023

“your faith in God is not always something that's always going to answer all your questions, but what is it going to do? Your faith in God is going to be an accompaniment because that's what God does, that's what Christ, that's what the Spirit does. Accompanies us in every moment of our lives.”

Fr. John Paul Forté, OP | May 10, 2020

“Doesn't Jesus remind us that we are all going to the Father? And we better get right and we better stay right if we expect to get to heaven.”

Monsignor Raymond East | May 10, 2020

“all God's children are chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. What are the boundaries of that nation, church? There aren't any. It reaches from heaven and back down to earth.”

Fr. Oscar Pratt | May 10, 2020

“Have you ever been to a really beautiful wedding, like a really holy marriage? Have you ever tasted that joy of that night of the union of the bridegroom and the bride? Multiply that times infinity and it's just a shadow of the joy of heaven.”

"Jesus' Second Coming" | Brant Pitre |