[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, May 10, 2026, the Sixth Sunday of Easter.
[00:00:21] This week's episode is entitled: Being Faithful. And these readings remind us that everything begins with faithfulness… everything from our relationship with God to our relationships with family and friends, everything from being a good Christian to being a good citizen, or even simply being a good person. After all, if we can't be faithful to God, how can we be faithful to anyone or anything else?
As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
Even if we are faithful, the things we get in return are not always good. Sometimes we do have love, joy and happiness, but sometimes we must endure hardships, sadness and loss. Saint Peter reminds us that it is better to suffer for doing what is right, so here's to making the right choices!
So, let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of life. Help us to cherish that gift, to be thankful for every day and to celebrate every event, for each lived experience teaches us a lesson about you and the love you have for us. May we share that love freely with others, whether it brings to joy or sorrow or both. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:06] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Our Gospel this week is from John 14: 15-21.
[00:02:18] “[Jesus said to his disciples:] ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’”
[00:03:19] This passage follows close on the heels of last week's passage… we are still at the Last Supper, we are still hearing Jesus' Farewell Discourse, and Jesus is still providing instructions to his disciples about what they will need to do when he is no longer with them.
[00:03:40] You may remember from last week, that I said Jesus' Farewell Discourse is classified as a type of biblical genre called a testament; and that such testaments typically contain a number of different topics. Last week's passage gave us an example of words of encouragement that are often found in testaments, this week's passage gives us an example of another common topic found in testaments: advice that addresses the future needs of the group. And yes, Jesus does intend this advice to help his disciples, but it will also benefit the entire Church - then and now. So, let's listen to what Jesus is saying to his disciples, including us…
[00:04:35] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
I've talked about this a lot recently, but it bears repeating… that love is an emotion that cannot be directly observed. It is only made manifest through concrete actions. Meaning that anyone who loves Jesus demonstrates their commitment to him by works, not by visible emotion and not merely by words - and that applies to every disciple… from the original disciples down to those of us who call ourselves Christian in the modern world. Then and now, Jesus’ followers manifest their love for him by following his example and keeping his commandments. That's not easy to do… not for the original disciples and certainly not for us in our divided, partisan social order that is unwilling to even talk to the other side, let alone create compromise! Because when we spend all our time vilifying others, we can't possibly love them. It's ever so much easier to put our own spin on what Jesus said than to actually live as he taught us to live!
A perfect example of that is in our modern political parties… anyone that says, unequivocally, that you have to belong to one political party or another is putting a spin on Jesus’ teaching, not listening to it. Jesus’ words are uncompromising… because the only way to truly demonstrate our love for him is to keep his commandments - and the only way we can keep his commandments is to listen to, know, and understand Scripture. Jesus knows, however, that we'll need help if we are to accomplish that. And his next words contain the advice I talked about earlier - advice intended to benefit his disciples then, but advice that continues to benefit the Church today - if we let it. Jesus says…
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever,”
Notice Jesus says: “another Counselor” - Counselor, by the way, can also be translated as Advocate. But why does he say another? Well, that's because Jesus himself is our Counselor, our Advocate… and when he goes to the Father, he will ask his Heavenly Father to send us another Counselor who will be with us forever. So, who is this other Counselor?
“the Spirit of truth,”
And of course, Jesus means the Holy Spirit - who proceeds from the Father and the Son… we profess that every time we say the Creed. So often, it's easy to assume that Jesus’ teachings to his disciples were broken down into convenient little snippets, as our modern Gospels are… but that wasn't the case! Remember, this entire discourse was one long speech that took place in the course of one meal, the Last Supper. If we think back to our passage from last week, Jesus said: “I AM the way, and the truth, and the life” - so those words would have been fresh in the minds of the disciples… they wouldn't have been something they'd heard a week ago. The disciples would have immediately perceived the connection between Jesus and the Holy Spirit from the context in which it was presented to them. And remember, too, the Holy Spirit is a firm reality for us today, but it was a novel concept for the disciples. The Holy Spirit had not yet descended upon the disciples, so this was something they were still trying to learn, understand, and accept.
[00:09:12] Jesus then offers what sounds almost like a warning about the Holy Spirit…
“whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him;”
[00:09:27] Whatever we do not, cannot, or will not receive, we openly reject, although we don't always think of it that way. Which says more about us than it does about God. And rejecting any part of God is rejecting all of God, no matter which person of the Trinity we are rejecting - it is still God, therefore, we are still rejecting God.
[00:09:57] Which should remind us of Psalm 118.: “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.” So, choosing to reject any of the three persons of the Trinity is the same as choosing to reject all of God.
We have to wonder if some of the problems in our world today have become as bad as they are simply because we have rejected parts or pieces of God that we have decided are difficult or inconvenient. Jesus reminds us, though…
“you know [the Spirit], for he dwells with you, and will be in in you.”
[00:10:51] That is a consequential, cosmic promise! It was made in Ezekiel 37, when God said: “My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.” And Jesus is telling the disciples that the Holy Spirit dwells WITH the Church and WITHIN each individual disciple. We receive that gift when we are Baptized, and it is then strengthened when we are Confirmed. We tend to take these cosmic realities for granted - but they are awesome and amazing - and we should see them that way. They are fulfilled in Jesus every time we receive Holy Communion, and they are continually maintained by the Holy Spirit… as long as we don't reject them.
[00:11:53] “I will not leave you desolate;”
[00:11:56] Desolate can also be translated as: orphans - the NAB translates it as orphans… “I will not leave you orphans” - and by that, Jesus means that he will not abandon us… that even though his human, corporal, physical presence will be withdrawn from the world at his Ascension, his spiritual presence will always remain with us. Then Jesus promises…
“I will come to you.”
And he does just that… at every celebration of the Catholic Mass, Jesus comes to us spiritually in the words of Scripture, and physically, substantially, in the Eucharist. Jesus comes to us in prayer, he comes to us in the Sacraments of the Church, he comes to give us grace, strength, and love.
[00:13:02] “Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more,”
Jesus will be Crucified… he has been trying to prepare his disciples for that reality, but they simply won't understand it until it happens. It's history for us - for them it will be the horrible and shameful death of a beloved friend.
“but you will see me;”
Those chosen to witness the Resurrection were a cherished few - those who were closest to Jesus in his temporal life were chosen to witness his glorified, eternal life…
“because I live, you will live also.”
[00:13:50] Because the Risen Jesus lives eternally in heaven with the Father, the disciples will also live eternally in heaven with the Father - sharing in Jesus' eternal life… we will also live eternally in heaven with the Father - sharing in Jesus’ eternal life. That is the promise!
“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”
Jesus has always been one with the Father, that is not something new that comes about as a result of his Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection. What IS new is that in the Resurrection… in the current age, the age of the Church… Jesus is still in the Father, but the disciples have been invited into that reality - they are now in Jesus, and he is in them. That includes us, too! The relationship that has always existed between Jesus and his Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit - that communion of life and love and unity - is now extended to include us.
[00:15:21] “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me;”
Love and obedience go together… I know I've said that before, but that too bears repeating. Love and obedience go together; they cannot be separated… we cannot say that we love Jesus if we don't obey his commandments… and we cannot obey Jesus’ commandments, fully and faithfully, if we don't truly love him.
“and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
If that's all beginning to sound a bit circular, that's because it is - and there's a good reason for that. Because in any good relationship - and I don't mean just a marriage - I also mean friendships, family relationships, work relationships… in any good relationship love, unity, trust, and truth flourish because they are precious and valued, they flourish because they are nourished and encouraged, and those good qualities beget more goodness… better friendships, better workplaces, stronger marriages, stronger families.
[00:17:02] But the opposite can also be true… lies, hatred, mistrust, division, and conflict can flourish if they're not stamped out - they can, and will, self-propagate and result in greater and greater damage to individuals, to society, and to the world. And while everything starts with faithfulness… faithfulness is not an end in itself - it is, in fact, only a beginning, because if we can't be faithful, everything else falls apart. And if we can't be faithful to God - who loves us unconditionally and eternally - then how can we be faithful to anyone or anything else?
[00:17:59] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17.
[00:18:07] “Philip went down to a city of Samar’ia, and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did. For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice; and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. Now when the apostles heard that Samar’ia had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then [Peter and John] laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
The Philip mentioned in this passage is one of the seven deacons ordained in last week's passage from Acts. And remember, if we think back to the Third Sunday of Lent, when we heard the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, we were told that Jesus stayed in Samaria for two days. And because numbers are always significant, that number meant that the message to the Samaritans wasn't fully proclaimed… that there was still more work to be done. Philip now takes up that mission, which we should also recall is part of Jesus’ Commission to the Apostles in Acts 1, when he said: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
[00:20:08] So, let's see how Philip took up that commission…
[00:20:13] “Philip went down to a city of Samar’ia,”
In that short phrase, Luke tells us that Philip - who was chosen and commissioned in Jerusalem - left the city and traveled north to an unnamed city in Samaria. I know it doesn't sound like that to us, but we have to set aside our modern preconceptions to understand Scripture properly… remember, whenever people left Jerusalem, they went down from Mount Zion, regardless of whether they then headed to north, south, east, or west. We know that Philip went north because he was going to Samaria, and he probably followed the same route that Jesus himself would have used when he returned to his home region of Galilee. Then Luke tells us that Philip…
“proclaimed to them the Christ.”
Which means that he preached the good news of Jesus, the Messiah.
“And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did. For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice; and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.”
I read all of that together because everything that Philip undertook mirrored ad actions already performed by Jesus, which indicates for us Philip's fidelity - his faithfulness - to Jesus' original ministry… to the words he spoke, the signs he performed, the unclean spirits he drove out, and the people he healed - those all would have reminded the Samaritans of Jesus, just as they should remind us of Jesus as well.
“So there was much joy in that city.”
The joy experienced by the Samaritans in this unnamed city is reminiscent of the excitement of the Samaritan woman who left behind at the well one of her most precious possessions, her water jar, so that she could share her experience of Jesus with her fellow townsfolk.
“Now when the apostles [at Jerusalem] heard that Samar’ia had received the word of God,”
And remember from Acts 1, Samaria is one of the places Jesus told his disciples they were to evangelize, to serve as his witness. Philip was just the first to make the trip, but he was followed by…
“Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
If you think back, I mentioned this just a couple of weeks ago… the idea of baptizing in the name of Jesus is not the Sacrament of Baptism we would understand today because it is not the Trinitarian formula that Jesus instructed his Apostles to use. It is more a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and one that is intended to express commitment to the person of Jesus, but it is not a conferral of the Holy Spirit. So, we have to ask, why not? Well, we get that answer in the very next sentence.
[00:23:59] “Then they laid their hands upon them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
[00:24:05] That sentence tells us that it was only when Peter and John laid their hands upon the Samaritan converts that they received the Holy Spirit. Peter and John were both Apostles, so that illustrates the privileged role of the Apostles in mediating the Holy Spirit… just as it points out the privileged role of the successors of the Apostles - the Bishops - in the Church today.
[00:24:39] This passage almost makes this event sound more like a Confirmation than a Baptism… even today, any man that has received Holy Orders can Baptize (technically, any baptized Catholic can baptize when facing an imminent threat of death), but only Bishops can Confirm - and even then there are exceptions to that rule. If you've ever been to an Easter Vigil, you know that the priest who welcomes new converts then has the authority to Confirm those converts as well. The diocesan Bishop delegates such authority every year.
This passage demonstrates that everything begins with faithfulness… Philip believed in Jesus and was faithful to the mission set before him… the Apostles were faithful to their mission and, as a result, we are told that the Samaritans received great joy.
Sometimes we receive joy when we're faithful, but not always… sometimes we are given hardships to withstand, sadness and suffering to endure, and even illness or loss that we must experience.
God never promised us material happiness in this life. He does promise happiness in the next, as long as we remain faithful.
[00:26:19] That takes us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 66. And the refrain is:
“Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.”
And here are the verses:
“Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give him glorious praise! Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!’”
“All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name. Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among men.”
“He turned the sea into dry land; men passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might for ever.”
“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his merciful love from me!”
[00:27:18] This Psalm is a Thanksgiving Psalm that invites all of creation to sing of God's greatness. It is not a tremendously long Psalm - we hear almost half of it this week. And the verses we do hear remind us of God's mercy, his willingness to listen to the prayers of his people, and the awesome deeds God did for the Israelites during the Exodus. French author Léon Bloy once said that “joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God” which reminds us that the joy we are privileged to experience here on earth is a sure sign that God is near to us.
[00:28:05] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is from 1 Peter 3: 15-18.
[00:28:14] “[Beloved:] [I]n your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God's will, than for doing wrong. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”
This is the fifth and final passage we will hear from 1 Peter this year… it should be the fifth of six passages but, since the Feast of the Ascension is transferred from this coming Thursday to next Sunday, we will hear Ascension readings rather than the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter. So, we won't get that final passage from 1 Peter.
This letter is classified as a catholic letter - and that's lowercase “c” catholic - meaning universal. So, it was addressed to a more generalized audience… as opposed to Paul's letters, which were addressed to specific communities.
[00:29:54] In fact, we could say that this is sort of an ancient encyclical, since it was written for a broad audience and since Peter was the Pope. If we look at the greeting of this letter, it says that it was addressed to “the chosen sojourners of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Unfortunately, that still may not help us really understand Peter's audience. Because if we think of what the dispersion typically meant in biblical times, we'd get the wrong idea. At that time, the dispersion (or the diaspora) referred specifically to Jewish exiles that were carried off into captivity by a whole series of conquering nations. But from the content of this letter we know that it was not addressed to Jews but to followers of Christ, and that these Christians were all residents of Roman provinces in what was known as Asia Minor at the time (which is modern day Turkey), meaning that they were all Greek speaking converts to Christianity. In this passage, Peter concedes that the natural human reaction to injustice or persecution is anger and a thirst for vengeance, but then he suggests a very different reaction, a very Christ-centered reaction.
[00:31:37] These words speak to us today as well, just as clearly and importantly as they spoke to Peter's original audience. So, let's listen to what Peter has to say this week…
“[Beloved:] [I]n your hearts reverence Christ as Lord.”
By that, Peter means that Jesus always has to be the starting point… for anything and everything. If he isn't, we'll likely end up choosing the wrong path. Think of that as trying to plan a driving route from San Francisco to Dallas using a map of France. You're going to get nowhere fast while experiencing a lot of frustration and anger along the way. But if we always see things through the lens of Christ, our plans will be clearer and our directions will make sense because we'll be using the right map. Then Peter says…
“Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you,”
That was good advice for Peter's initial audience, and it's really good advice for us as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes several paragraphs to explaining the virtue of hope. Distilled down it essentially says that hope is the grace that sustains us so that we can trust in God's promises in this world and the next.
[00:33:25] Hope… purifies, strengthens, and encourages us… it opens our hearts and is both expressed in and nourished by prayer. Hebrews 6 tells us hope is “an anchor for our soul” and Hebrews 11, reminds us that hope is intimately and inseparably intertwined with the virtue of faith - it says: “faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.”
[00:34:05] So, just as Peter's original audience was advised to always be ready to defend their hope - we should be just as prepared because our modern world challenges us at every turn.
[00:34:23] Yet Peter says…
“do it with gentleness and reverence:”
As Jesus did - not with anger and a thirst for vengeance.
“and keep your conscience clear, so that when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
Another way to translate abused is “maligned” - the NAB translates it as maligned. Basically, Peter is saying that we should always be prepared to respond calmly and appropriately, as Jesus would have, whenever we are confronted by those who are angry, hurt, or resentful, those who insult our faith and our hope, those who attack us for being Catholic Christians. Because if we do that, our conscience will be clear and we won't incur shame.
[00:35:30] Now, that also doesn't mean that we WANT others to be ashamed… unfortunately, people will do that to themselves. That's what Peter means by “those who revile you may be put to shame” - he means they will be shamed by their own bad behavior.
“For it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God's will, than for doing wrong.”
That doesn't mean we should seek out suffering or persecution… it does mean that we should accept suffering when it comes and endure it patiently, and that we should never, ever undertake any sort of evil actions ourselves - we should never do wrong.
[00:36:21] That is where things can get a bit tricky, though. Because, if we convince ourselves that we hold the moral high ground and that we can say whatever we want however we want to say it… then we will get ourselves into trouble. Because that is not the case!
[00:36:45] We must always be mindful of what Peter just got don telling us… to keep our conscience clear, to be gentle, and to behave well.
“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,”
If you think back to what I said last week, I mentioned that some modern scholars reject Peter as the author of this letter because it contains so much Pauline theology.
[00:37:17] This is one of those instances. Paul's theological fingerprints are all over that statement. In fact, if we listen closely, we hear echoes of both 2 Corinthians and Romans there. That doesn't mean that Peter was above borrowing from Paul, since there was clearly a certain amount of mutual respect between the two men. It does mean, however, that there was sufficient conflict between the two that would have made it unlikely that Peter would borrow significantly from Paul's theology. Again, the Church clearly identifies Peter as the author, so there's no question there for Catholics - I just want to point out inconsistencies when they occur. And that statement, although very Pauline in nature, was by no means an uncommon opinion. Jesus was the righteous one who died for all on the Cros.
“that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”
[00:38:24] That phrase also has Paul's theological fingerprints all over it. But by those words, Peter is assuring his audience that corporal death is not the end! Jesus’ suffering in his Passion and Death AND his subsequent triumph in the Resurrection stand throughout all time as a model for us. They remind us that we all have to endure suffering, but that just as Jesus’ suffering led to his glory, we hold onto the hope that we will achieve the same glory through any suffering we bear.
But everything begins with faithfulness - being faithful to the Father, being faithful to Jesus, being faithful to the Holy Spirit… because if we can't be faithful to God, who loves us beyond all human understanding, then how can we be faithful to anyone or anything else?
[00:39:33] And even if we are faithful, that doesn't mean we will only experience good things here on earth… in fact, we're never promised that. We do experience times of joy and happiness, but we also have to suffer through times of hardship and sorrow.
Every day contains ups and downs… but at least we're alive to experience them!
Every life can contains joys and sorrows… but we should celebrate them because they reflect the love we share. And after all, if things weren't important to us, we wouldn't experience sorrow when we lose them.
Every person is offered the virtues of love and hope… what we do with them matters!
Jesus tells us that we will keep his commands if we love him.
Saint Peter reminds us to defend our hope because it is better to suffer for doing what is right than for doing wrong.
So, here's to making the right choices!
[00:40:45] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you safe and secure in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God Bless.
