5th Sunday of Easter 2026
Dear brothers and sisters,
As we continue to celebrate the mystery of God’s love revealed in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we rejoice in the new life we have received through baptism. We are not simply remembering the Resurrection, we are entering into it. We are a people made alive in Christ, the beloved of the Father, re created and made His family.
Baptism is not a symbolic belonging. It is a real transformation. It breaks barriers. It breaks the walls of race, tribe, nationality, class, and status, and gathers us into one household, the family of God. This is not a love we have earned, but a love freely given.
And yet, in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we encounter a painful contradiction. The community is growing. The disciples are multiplying. The Gospel is bearing fruit. But division enters.
A complaint arises, what the Greek calls γογγυσμὸς (goggysmos), a murmuring. This is not a small disagreement. It echoes the murmuring of the people in the wilderness, a sign that the community is on the brink of fracture. The tension is between the Hebrews and the Hellenists. This is not merely about language, but about identity, belonging, and vision. The Hebrews begin to neglect the Hellenists. Even within a baptized community, old identities begin to reassert themselves. My people first. My group first. My kind first.
They had become a new family, but they were still thinking in old ways.
So we must ask ourselves honestly. Are we any different? Do I truly see others as my brothers and sisters, or do I still define people by tribe, race, class, or background? Do I love universally, or selectively?
And here is what is remarkable. The Apostles do not silence the complaint. They do not impose a solution. They do not defend the majority. Instead, they listen. They gather the whole community. They invite those who are suffering the injustice to be part of the solution. And most importantly, they open the process to the Holy Spirit.
This is the heart of synodality. Not simply consultation, and not mere democracy, but discernment together in the Holy Spirit.
At the same time, the Apostles make something very clear. They say that it is not right for them to neglect the Word of God to serve tables. This is not a rejection of service, but a right ordering. Without the Word, even good works lose their life. Rooted in the Word, a new form of service emerges, the ministry of the Seven, chosen as men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom.
And what is the result? The Word of God continues to spread. Not only because it is preached, but because it is lived. A synodal Church becomes credible. A communion lived becomes a proclamation stronger than words.
Dear friends, the Spirit we have received in baptism is not a spirit of division, but of mission. We are set apart not to exclude, but to serve, not to dominate, but to love, not to divide, but to unite. As the psalm reminds us in Psalm 33, may your merciful love be upon us as we place our trust in you. Trust in God, heals the divided heart.
Then Saint Peter speaks to us in his First Epistle,that we ‘You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart’. This is who you and me are, not because of your bloodline, but because of Christ.
To be a royal priesthood does not mean privilege. It means sacrifice. It means offering not animals, but ourselves. It means becoming both altar and sacrifice. It means living lives poured out in love for others, especially for those who are not our own.
Then in the Gospel from the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks into the deepest human experience, the experience of trouble. The disciples are afraid. Their hearts are shaken. And Jesus says, do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God, have faith also in me. This is not a denial of trouble. It is a transformation of the heart within trouble. Faith does not remove difficulties, but gives an untroubled heart in a troubled world.
Then Jesus reveals something profound. He says, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
He is the Way, not merely a guide, but the path itself, the way beyond division, beyond tribalism, beyond self centeredness. Without Him we wander, even if we appear religious. With Him, our lives begin to align.
He is the Truth, not an abstract idea, but a living revelation. The truth is this, you are the beloved of the Father. This truth heals what is broken, restores what is wounded, and liberates what is enslaved. Without this truth we define ourselves by our failures. With Christ we rediscover who we are.
He is the Life. Without Him we may exist, but we do not truly live. Yet how often we try to draw life from things that cannot give it. Achievements, possessions, control. But as Augustine of Hippo reminds us, our hearts are restless until they rest in God. So the question becomes, who or what is your life? Because whatever you place at the center will shape everything else.
Then comes a striking moment. Philip the Apostle says, show us the Father. And Jesus responds, whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. The Father becomes visible in the Son. And now, through baptism, the Son desires to become visible in you. You are called to become the face of the Father in your words, in your actions, and in your love.
Jesus says that in His Father’s house there are many dwelling places. This is not only about heaven in the future. It is about the heart of God now. There is room for everyone. No one is excluded. No one is a stranger. No one should feel like a foreigner in the Church.
So we must honestly ask ourselves, are we reflecting that house, or are we closing doors?
A synodal Church is a Church that listens like the Apostles, discerns in the Spirit, remains rooted in the Word, and opens space like the heart of Christ. It is a Church where no one is homeless because all dwell in the heart of the Father.
Dear brothers and sisters, especially in moments of tension in society, even in times of different crises and differing ideologies, we must remember that we may differ in opinions, but we do not differ in baptism. We are one body, one family, one royal priesthood. We are one in the Lord and we should witness to this one Lord. Let your life show it. Let your words show it. Let your relationships show it.
As Saint Peter reminds us, we are being built into a spiritual house. Christ is the cornerstone. We are the living stones. Today we are challenged to recognize that our neighbour is a sacred stone, and to live our calling as living stones, offering ourselves in love and service.
The true joy of Easter is not only that Christ is risen. The deeper joy is that the risen Christ lives in you, in your heart, in your relationships, in your community, so that others may encounter Him through you. If Christ is truly our life, then our lives must give life to others, in our families, in our communities, and even to those who do not yet know Him.
So today we pray that the Holy Spirit may transform us, that our faith may become visible in our lives, and that we may become a Church where no one is homeless, because all dwell in the heart of the Father. That Christ may truly become for us the way we walk, the truth we live, and the life we radiate.
And that through us, the world may encounter not just our words, but the living presence of the risen Lord. For God is love, and we are called to make that love visible.
The Lord is Risen indeed. Alleluia, alleluia. Amen.