May 17, 2026
6th Sunday
Easter
FOCUS: I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
As Christians we are called to share the Good News. Saint Peter challenges us to be ready to give an account of the hope that we have in Christ, but to do so with gentleness. As the old saying goes, we attract others more easily with honey than with vinegar. But it isn’t always easy to evangelize, and we have no guarantee of how we will be received. We need God’s love and the power of the Holy Spirit, the promised Advocate, to fulfill this task
What's in Your Heart
During the 40 days the resurrected Jesus spent with the disciples before his Ascension, Luke says, he spoke "about the kingdom of God."
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What is your understanding of the kingdom of God? How would you tell others about it?
To those who believe, the Letter to the Ephesians says, much is revealed.
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How does faith enlighten the "eyes of your heart"? What do you see?
Homily Stories
Not long ago I spent a few days in Milwaukee visiting a community of Catholic sisters as part of my new job. Many of them are now well into their 70s and 80s. Walking through the hallways, you notice the small signs of age—canes leaning beside chairs, hearing aids carefully adjusted, the slower pace that comes with years well lived.
And yet the place is far from quiet.
One sister had just returned from a peace vigil downtown. Another was organizing a letter-writing campaign about immigration policy. Someone else was practicing a speech to recognize student leaders at a nearby women’s college. In the dining room I overheard two sisters meeting about their volunteer tutoring program for grade-school kids.
None of it had the frantic urgency that we often associate with work. But the work itself was unmistakably still underway.
At one point I asked a sister in her 80s if she ever thought about slowing down. She shrugged and said simply, “Well, there’s still work to do.”
Watching these sisters, it struck me that a life of service rarely unfolds in dramatic moments. More often it takes shape through long, steady faithfulness: responding to the work that is ours to do, and trusting that over time, God brings that work to completion.
Quotes
The Ascension is not only about Our Lord’s Divinity ascending into Heaven, but also about our humanity being admitted to seat itself at the Right Hand of the Father in Heaven!
—Pope Saint Leo the Great