1 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father’s house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself; that where I am, you also may be.

4 And whither I go you know, and the way you know.

5 Thomas saith to him: Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.

7 If you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also: and from henceforth you shall know him, and you have seen him.

8 Philip saith to him: Lord, shew us the Father, and it is enough for us.

9 Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, shew us the Father?

10 Do you not believe, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself. But the Father who abideth in me, he doth the works.

11 Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?

12 Otherwise believe for the very works’ sake. Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do.

(John 14:1-12 DRA)

In our Gospel reading for this fifth Sunday of Easter, we hear one of Our Lord’s most explicit affirmations of an infallible Catholic dogma, rendered in Latin since the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 as extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, that is, ‘outside the Church there is no salvation.’ This has been understood differently throughout the centuries and, like all the dogmas of the Church, it was not invented when it was defined by the Magisterium but was taught unanimously by the Fathers in their uncompromising reading of Scripture. The traditional teaching was summarized succinctly by Pope Leo XII in his encyclical Ubi primum §14:

It is impossible for the most true God, who is Truth itself, the best, the wisest Provider, and the Rewarder of good men, to approve all sects who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent with one another and contradictory, and to confer eternal rewards on their members… by divine faith we hold one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and that no other name under heaven is given to men except the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth in which we must be saved. This is why we profess that there is no salvation outside the Church.

As always, in responding to this, people tend toward one of two extremes, some toward the heresy of Feeneyism, which as my colleague Phillip Hadden wrote last May was condemned by the Holy Office in 1953, because Fr. Feeney taught that only those who are visible, practicing members of the Catholic Church can be saved. Others, however, particularly those influenced by Modernism or by the tacit universalism of Hans Urs Von Balthasar, tend toward the opposite extreme, positing that anyone who simply follows what they think God wants them to do, according to their subjective beliefs about Him and the judgment of their conscience, can and probably will be saved, that God would just apply the sanctifying grace of Christ usually limited to the Sacraments onto their souls.

Both of these extremes miss the mark, but they do so in reaction to two distinct fears: for Feeneyism, the fear of betraying the uniqueness of Christ as our one true Savior, as He clearly states in today’s Gospel and throughout the New Testament, so that the Faith is reduced to a melting pot where all religions are equal paths up the mountain to God a la Oprah Winfrey; and for universalism, the fear that all but a very few will be saved and that, especially for the majority of us today who live in non-Catholic environments, most of the people we meet on a daily basis are doomed to Hell. The first fears the denial of God’s justice, the second the rejection of His mercy. These fears drive people toward one of these extremes – and away from the via media where the truth is most often found.

To justify the modernist/universalist position, many will assert that the Church corrected or clarified the exclusivism of the traditional position on salvation at Vatican II. They will quote as the primary text this paragraph, also referenced by the Catechism:

Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel. (Lumen gentium §16)

However, as Phillip astutely noted last year, they usually fail to include the rest of this paragraph, which reads,

But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator. Or some there are who, living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, ‘Preach the Gospel to every creature’, the Church fosters the missions with care and attention.

According to Pope Benedict XVI’s principle called the hermeneutic of continuity, we must read all recent magisterial teaching in light of Tradition, not apart from or above it. Sadly, both of the extremes mentioned above fail to do this: the absolutist view accepts only the second quote while the universalist view exaggerates the first quote from Lumen gentium §16. But taken together, they express what Our Lord says in today’s Gospel: He is indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life, the unique Gate into the sheepfold of Heaven, as we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel. This is why, in the Vatican II document Unitatis redintegratio §3 teaches,

[I]t is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help towards salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one body of Christ into which all those must be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God.

But what does this mean for the first quote from Lumen gentium? How can those who are wholly ignorant of Christ and His Church still be saved? The error of the universalists, that God will save all those who follow their personal beliefs and conscience ‘as if’ they are true Christians, is patently false. As Pope Benedict taught while still a cardinal, the human conscience is not infallible; we are bound to obey its judgments, but we may still be wrong in doing so if our conscience is ill-formed and its judgments are false, that is, if we are vain in our reasoning and if our godlessness leads to our final despair, as Lumen gentium put it. God does not simply excuse what we do because we have failed to learn the truth and form our conscience as we should, nor can the grace by which He leads us to salvation teach us anything evil or untrue.

To help solve this dilemma, the Catechism (848) and Phillip quote from another Vatican II document, Ad gentes, which teaches that “in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him”. This shows that it is still only by faith that we can please God (Heb 11:6), but that God can lead even those who are ignorant of Him to faith. How can this be?

St. Thomas Aquinas, dealing with the issue of how people could be saved who live far away from Christendom and have thus had no opportunity to know about the Gospel (anticipating the situation of the natives of the New World despite living nearly three centuries before its discovery), explains that, before the Incarnation, it was only necessary for most people to have implicit faith in Christ. This is the faith that enabled the holy ones of Israel to receive sanctifying, baptismal grace through circumcision (by their parents’ faith, like baptized infants today) and to be released from the Hell of the Just by Christ on Holy Saturday, as well as even some Gentile pagans, possibly including philosophers like Plato and Aristotle who came so close to true faith in many ways. St. Thomas says that the educated of Israel, such as the priests and rabbis, were required to have explicit faith in Christ, hence their guilt in His Passion is far greater.

But after the Incarnation, St. Thomas says, it is necessary to have explicit faith in Christ to be saved. So then, how can the invincibly ignorant be saved? As one of the “ways known only to God” in the words of Ad gentes, St. Thomas posits that God can reveal Himself and the Gospel to individuals who are properly disposed to Him, i.e. those Lumen gentium describes as sincerely open to His grace in their conscience, through a private revelation. He may even use the images and concepts familiar to them to communicate Himself but still doing so in a way that their faith in Him is explicit, thus enabling them to receive sanctifying grace and the charity without which faith is dead. (Jas 2:20)

In this way, Christ truly is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the one and only Gate into Heaven and our Good Shepherd whose voice alone we recognize. As He said, no one comes to the Father except through Him. This article of faith has not and cannot ever change. But He is not limited to the visible means of the Church’s Sacraments which He has established as His ordinary instruments for distributing grace and incorporating us into the Mystical Body of Christ. This is why He could assure St. Dismas the Good Thief crucified beside Him that he would enter Paradise: because, despite being unbaptized, he was a faithful Jew and genuinely open to faith in Christ, thus he received the reward of salvation.

Nevertheless, the Sacraments remain ordinary and binding for us and it is not our place to presume on God’s mercy or to neglect Christ’s Great Commission, “And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.” (Mk 16:15-16), lest we incur the penalty for our neglectfulness: “Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 10:32-33) This is why Pope St. John Paul II’s document Dominus Iesus §22 teaches,

With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-31). This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism ‘characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that 'one religion is as good as another’.

In the modern world, the universalist distortion of Vatican II’s teaching has led to a radical decline in evangelization and missionary efforts by Catholics, despite its strong exhortation for their promotion. Today, we live in a world where few people know Christ, and where even many practicing Catholics regularly reject and flagrantly live contrary to the teachings of the Church. But, if we follow Pope Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity, forming our mind and heart in the Tradition of the Church, we can have the courage to make disciples of all nations, continuing the surge in Catholic converts we saw this Easter and showing the world that the Church is not dead but eternally resurrected.

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Christ’s declaration of His divinity in today’s Gospel is appropriate for the Feast of St. Athanasius, who has earned the title of “Champion of Christ’s Divinity” due to his staunch defense of Christ’s divinity against the heresy of Arianism. Arianism denied that Christ and the Father are co-eternal, falsely holding that the Son was begotten of the Father at a certain point in time. Arianism also falsely taught that the Son is subordinate to the Father, which is a terrible heresy and denial of Christ’s divinity.

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The truth about the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity—which St. Athanasius soundly defended, thereby earning himself the title of Doctor of the Church—is that Christ is the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. All three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, for they share the same divine nature. The Son is begotten of the Father from all eternity, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son from all eternity. This is a supernatural mystery that our human intellects cannot fully grasp, but as the Athanasian Creed summarizes, “[I]n this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-eternal.”

While our intellects can never fully comprehend this great mystery, we are obliged under pain of grave sin to believe that the three divine Persons are co-equal and co-eternal, being three distinct Persons Who share the same divine nature. St. Athanasius devoted his entire life to defending the truth of the Trinity, even when subjected to false accusations against his character. Eventually, the slander mounted; his enemies falsely accused St. Athanasius of murdering a bishop, and shortly thereafter, the saint was exiled to Germany. When he returned from exile, his enemies continued to calumniate him, resulting in his second exile and deposition from the see of Alexandria.

The rest of St. Athanasius’ life was spent experiencing false accusations and five different exiles, for a total of seventeen years spent in exile for his unwavering defense of Christ’s divinity (Catholic Online). He died in Alexandria on May 2, 373. On the feast of this great saint and defender of the truth, may he intercede for us to deepen our faith in the truth of the Blessed Trinity and Christ’s divinity, without which we cannot truly know and love God.

St. Athanasius, ora pro nobis!

John 13:16-20

(When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, he said to them)

16 Amen, amen I say to you: The servant is not greater than his lord; neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him. 17 If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them. 18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen. But that the scripture may be fulfilled: He that eateth bread with me, shall lift up his heel against me. 19 At present I tell you, before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe that I am he. 20 Amen, amen I say to you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.

Today’s short passage is remarkably rich in meaning. First, we are reminded of our Lord’s amazing humility. Even to consider for a moment that God would become man is amazing. That the God man would allow Himself to be tortured and killed to redeem the very men who caused His suffering is unfathomable. But now, Jesus... God, washes the feet of even the one who would betray Him!

Saint Peter’s response was the only reasonable answer. He basically jumped up and yelled that he could not allow God to do such a humble act of service for him. What would we do if Jesus appeared to us? Well, we would probably run to worship Him, fall prostrate on the ground, washing His feet with our tears, begging forgiveness as did Saint Mary Magdalene. We would long to embrace Him, but would be so awestruck that I doubt we could even speak. Now, imagine Jesus removing our shoes and washing our feet! That is the opposite of the worship due God.

Although the Bible does not give us the details of Judas’ response, we may imagine that his was the opposite. We know that he did not believe in the divinity of Christ. He thought Jesus was a fraud, and probably only followed Him to steal from the monies that were held in common. If he felt entitled to their funds, did he feel entitled to be served by Jesus? Was he arrogant and prideful? He must have held our Lord in contempt to betray Him.

Whether we accept Jesus and worship Him as He commands is up to each of us. Some leave the Church He founded and choose to worship our Lord in ways that they think best. Some stay in the Catholic Church but hold beliefs that are opposed to the teaching of Jesus and His Church. Jesus never forces anyone to believe or to obey. If one believes that they know better than Jesus and His Church, that He guaranteed to be free from all error, they may. But, that is the same sin committed by Judas. We would do well to consider this, and follow the example of Saint Peter who immediately changed his mind and begged our Lord to wash his head and hands, too. Obedience to Christ must override our opinions and even natural reactions.

Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July - December, 2026 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRGY1D15

A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January - June, 2026 It is also available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GDK16N45

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Authority is an immensely important reality within the context of human life. It is even more important in the life of the Church. Our Lord expresses this fact in the Gospel for today. It is Christ who comes in the name of God, the Father. The Son is sent to reveal the Father and to lead man to union with God. This is the glory of the Incarnation, that God becomes man so that the rift between man and God can be repaired, and we might have eternal life, as Our Lord says further on, “And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me.”1 God desires that eternal life be given to those who would follow the words of Christ. Thus, there is an explicit connection between obedience and salvation.

This should not come as a surprise to us, as it was through disobedience that man fell in the beginning.2 That disobedience brought about Original Sin and cut man off from God. In like manner, according to a sublime fittingness, Our Lord repairs that disobedience with an example of obedience in His absolute abandonment to God in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Thus, the necessity of obedience is emphasized by Christ. To tie this into today’s Gospel, Our Lord emphasizes that in believing in Him, by extension, you believe in the Father. The converse is true as well; if we reject Christ, we are rejecting the Father. We should, likewise, carry this down from Christ to those whom He has sent just as the Father has sent Him. This is why the Lord tells the Apostles, “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”3 The Apostles and their Successors have been given the authority of governance in the Church, with Peter at the head.4 Thus, we ought to have a disposition of obedience to St. Peter and his successors and to the Bishops of the Catholic Church. We must have an ardent desire to stay within the Barque of Peter, as outside of that Ark, there is no salvation,5 as foreshadowed by Noah and the Flood.6

Today’s feast day is of a saint particularly close to my heart, St. Catherine of Siena. The Mystic of Siena labored during a time of great confusion in the church when the Pope resided in Avignon. After Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome under Catherine’s influence, he died, and Pope Urban VI was elected. From there, the French Cardinals elected their own pope, and the Great Western Schism began. During this time, even though Urban VI was a volatile figure and was not very well liked, Catherine continuously promoted obedience to the true pope against the anti-popes of Avignon.

This great Mystic reminds us of the necessity of obedience. That is when we listen to the Holy Father within the context of faith and morals; we are listening to Christ. Not everything the Pope says is infallible. Not everything the Pope says is even authoritative. The levels of assent given to Church teaching are a very nuanced subject.7 But one principle, to my mind, seems to be the foundational approach when it comes to Magisterial teaching:

If we approach magisterial teaching with a starting point of “Do I have to obey this?” We have begun in a fundamentally flawed place.

This does not mean that we will not struggle. This does not mean that it won’t be hard, as is demonstrated in the times of St. Catherine of Siena. We have to encounter ambiguity and even the scandal of bad popes and prelates. Not all live up to the immense call that Christ has given. That is the reality.

But the Catholic position is to be a St. Catherine.

At the end of the day, obedience, prudence, and humility are the key virtues that every Catholic must embody in our consideration of what is said by our shepherds. These are non-negotiable. These, then, must be ordered toward charity and justice. St. Thomas teaches on judgment:

As stated above (A. 3, ad 2), from the very fact that a man thinks ill of another without sufficient cause, he injures and despises him. Now no man ought to despise or in any way injure another man without urgent cause: and, consequently, unless we have evident indications of a person’s wickedness, we ought to deem him good, by interpreting for the best whatever is doubtful about him.8

This means, all things being equal, we are to assume the best intentions out of charity when it comes to our neighbor. This includes our superiors, especially the Pope and the Bishops in union with him. We are bound to interpret their words in charity. This benefit of the doubt only ends when there is manifest and undeniable danger to the faith.9 For St. Thomas, this is a clear departure from ambiguity and matters of prudence and entrance into objective and undeniable contradiction. Unless we find ourselves in a place where there is such a publicly manifest contradiction of Church teaching, we are to proceed according to charity as the Angelic Doctor reminds us.

These are important matters that Our Lord reminds us of in today’s Gospel. Obedience, humility, and prudence are key in the life of the Catholic. We must keep ourselves aligned with the perennial teachings of the Catholic Church according to these virtues. In addition, St. Thomas warns us against rash judgment, teaching that we need urgent cause to think ill of another man. How would our spiritual lives be different if we followed the Angelic Doctor on these matters and refrained from rash judgment? An error that is dangerous to the faith must be called out, especially if it is by a prelate. But the prudential guidance of the Church’s greatest theologian is that it must only be done in the case of a manifest and clear danger to the faith, and not in a situation that could be made to look like such.

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For more from Dr. McGovern, visit his Substack at A Thomist, Dedicated to the Theological tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Exploring Thomas’ Spiritual Theology and topics in Christology and Mariology.

It begins with a scattering.

The persecution that rose up after Stephen’s death drove the disciples out of Jerusalem - to Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch, further than they might otherwise have gone, further than the original mission seemed to require. Luke notes this almost in passing, as though it were an administrative detail: “those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen.” But it is not incidental. The violence that killed Stephen became the wind that carried the Gospel to people it had not yet reached.

Some of the scattered disciples, Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, arrived in Antioch and did something that had not been done before: they spoke of the faith to Greeks. Not to Jews of the diaspora, not to God-fearers at the edge of the synagogue, but to Greeks - Gentiles, outsiders, people with no framework for the covenant and no preparation for the Messiah. “The hand of the Lord was with them,” Luke says, “and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”

The news reached Jerusalem. The church sent Barnabas to see what was happening.

We met Barnabas two weeks ago in this series - the son of encouragement, the man who sold a field and laid the money at the apostles’ feet. He arrives in Antioch as an investigator of sorts, an emissary from the mother church sent to evaluate a situation that has moved faster than anyone anticipated. What he finds is grace. And his response is not to audit it or to send a cautious report back to Jerusalem. “When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced.”

This is the instinct of a man formed by the resurrection. He sees something of God and his first movement is joy. Not suspicion, not procedural caution, not the careful hedging of someone protecting institutional interests. Joy. And from that joy, encouragement: he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with firmness of heart.

Then he does the most consequential thing he could have done. He goes to Tarsus to find Saul.

The man who stood at Stephen’s stoning giving his wholehearted approval - suneudokōn, pleased by it - has by this point been converted, commissioned, and sent back to his home city of Tarsus, where he has been for some years in a kind of obscurity. Barnabas goes to find him and brings him to Antioch. For a whole year, the two of them teach together in the community that Stephen’s death helped scatter into being.

The loop closes so quietly that it is easy to miss. The son of encouragement retrieves the man who approved the killing of the first martyr and places him at the heart of the community the martyr’s death created. This is what grace looks like when it has been working for a while.

And then the name.

“It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.”

The Greek Christianous was almost certainly coined by outsiders - a label applied to this community by the people around them, possibly with mockery, in the way that “Methodist” would be coined mockingly centuries later, or the way any new and distinctive movement attracts a nickname from those watching. But it stuck. And it stuck because something visible was happening. These people were different enough from their surrounding culture that they needed a new word. The name followed the reality.

Jesus, in John’s Gospel, is standing in the Portico of Solomon at the Feast of Dedication - winter, the temple colonnade, the crowd pressing in - and they ask him the question they have been circling for some time: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” He tells them what he has already told them: the works testify. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

The Antioch community had heard the voice. They had followed. And the people outside them could see something - something distinct enough, something joy-shaped and generous and stubbornly committed - that a new name was required. They did not name themselves. They were named because of what was visible.

This is the domestic question the readings press this week. Not “are you a Christian?” in the sense of formal membership, but “is there something visible?” Would the people outside your household - your neighbors, your colleagues, the extended family who does not share the faith - need a new word for what they see in you? Not a performed religiosity, not a conspicuous piety, but the thing that made people in Antioch reach for a name: a joy at encountering grace, a firmness of heart, a willingness to encourage, an instinct to go find the difficult person and bring them in.

Barnabas did not wait for Saul to find his way back. He went to Tarsus. He looked for him. He brought him home to the community where his gifts would be used and his story would be redeemed. The domestic church does this too - it is often a single relationship, a single person willing to make the trip, that brings someone from the edges into the life of faith. Not a program. A Barnabas.

The sheep hear the voice and follow. The following, over time, becomes visible. The visibility, over time, acquires a name.

What name would the people outside your door give to what they see?

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Deacon Michael Halbrook is husband to Suzanne, father of four sons, and a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. He serves at St. Elizabeth Parish in Granite City. He is the founder of Domus Formation, a collection of Catholic prayer and formation resources for every stage of life, and he writes at DeaconMichael.net.

Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”
— John 10:11-18

In today’s Gospel Jesus makes it very clear what kind of leader He is: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” That is the opposite of a hireling, someone who may manage sheep for pay, but who won’t stay when it costs him something.

Jesus’ point isn’t only that He will dies for you; it’s that He loves you because you’re His, in a way that actually endures risk and inconvenience for your wellbeing. Christ’s model of leadership is completely revolutionary, even today: how many leaders are truly ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of those who follow them?

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This passage presents us with a good opportunity to ask ourselves whether or not we are following Christ’s voice and example: are we running when it gets inconvenient, or looking for the “safe” path that avoids sacrifice? Are we listening to His voice and letting Him guide us or are we acting stubbornly and pridefully?

If you find that you are not acting like you should, try this week to listen more closely to His voice, by seeking silence, by spending time with Christ in adoration, and by praying and asking for Him to illuminate you.

May we all learn to listen to the good shepherd, to Christ Our Lord, so we can follow Him more faithfully and join Him in eternity.

In Christ,

Juan — Simple Man

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Thank you for reading, and God bless you!

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By Simple Man

1 Amen, amen I say to you: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

4 And when he hath let out his own sheep, he goeth before them: and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.

5 But a stranger they follow not, but fly from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.

6 This proverb Jesus spoke to them. But they understood not what he spoke to them.

7 Jesus therefore said to them again: Amen, amen I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 All others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers: and the sheep heard them not.

9 I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures.

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.

(John 10:1-10 DRA)

St. Alphonsus Liguori once wrote,

The wolves that catch and scatter the sheep of Jesus Christ are the authors of scandal, who, not content with their own destruction, labour to destroy others. Be careful, then, never again to give the smallest scandal. And if you wish to save your soul, avoid as much as possible those who give scandal.

In our Gospel reading for this fourth Sunday of Easter, Our Lord uses one of His most famous parables, that of the shepherd and the sheepfold, to teach us an important lesson, one which is perhaps more relevant in our age of casual conversations reaching immediately to audiences of millions all around the world: scandal is a grave sin.

In all His verbal duels against the Pharisees, Sadducees and other Jewish sects of the time, Christ rarely if ever corrected their actual teachings on faith and morals. Indeed, He even said, “All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not.” (Mt 23:3) Instead, He shows that it is precisely their other acts, what we as Catholics today would call their non-infallible magisterial acts, their sayings as private theologians and their lived examples, that were causing scandal.

In Our Lord’s proverbial symbolism, which He interprets for us in the second part of this reading, He explains that those who steal souls are the ‘thieves and robbers’ who came before Him, i.e. who teach apart from the Gospel and His divine authority, whether before His Incarnation or after. By this time in the history of the Jewish people, the Pharisees had usurped for themselves the authority to judge sins and to teach authoritatively, roles once belonging exclusively to the Levitical priests or to those given special priestly authority, such as the Davidic kings (priests in the order of Melchizedek) and the prophets.

Now, instead of teaching the truth of God clearly and unequivocally and living it out faithfully in their lives, the Pharisees ignore Christ’s fulfillment of prophecy, prioritize ritual cleanliness over moral virtue and prefer the sacrifices of the Temple above works of mercy and charity - all of which contradicts the spirit of the Law as elucidated by the prophets. Similarly, the Sadducees compromised politically with Rome and even rejected all the books of Scripture besides the Pentateuch.

The Pharisees and Sadducees are represented by the thieves and robbers mentioned by Our Lord. Like thieves, the Pharisees stole souls from Christ by attempting to hinder His mission and lead people away from Him. Like robbers, the Sadducees lay in wait and sprang their spiritual banditry, trapping the people through sophistry as they attempted to do to Christ (unsuccessfully).

Sadly, the legacy of the Pharisees and Sadducees as thieves and robbers of souls did not end with them. The Church has been afflicted with such false shepherds for two millennia to varying extents. This is perhaps truer today than ever before, not as though all bishops, priests, theologians and other teachers of the faithful are corrupt – which they are not – but because, for most of history, little of what these people said or did was known by most Catholics throughout the world. Besides the identity and the major documents of popes, very few papal statements, or even the canons of councils, would have trickled down to the laity or even to all priests. For most Catholics, their primary contact with the Church was through their local parish and their traditional devotions.

But today, practically all Catholics are literate, and most have access to the monuments of Tradition and the sources of theology, both historic and current, to a degree unimaginable by people in history. This is good, because it gives Catholics the opportunity to grow in their faith through study of the Fathers, Doctors and Magisterium of the Church, but it also makes less authoritative statements from popes and bishops immediately accessible to all Catholics, even airplane interviews or other off-the-cuff, casual conversations. We have seen especially in the last 15 years how scandalous these ambiguous comments can be to the faithful.

The goal today, especially for Catholic parents, religious education teachers, catechists and those who teach the Faith online or elsewhere, should be to help Catholics drink deeply from the sources of the Faith and to thus lay the foundation by which they can scrutinize current statements, whether from popular culture, fellow lay Catholics or even the hierarchy of the Church, to compare all things to Tradition and to hold to what is perennial, not fashionable. This is true Catholic orthodoxy, as opposed to the relativism of progressive Catholics who value only what is new and innovative. Although laypeople are not the interpreters of Tradition, we are responsible for our own faith and the faith of those we influence, and these should be based on the clear truth of Tradition, not opinion, following St. Paul’s guideline, “But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thess 5:21)

In this modern world of instant worldwide communication and widespread lack of solid catechesis, Catholics, most of all those with public influence, should be more careful than ever before to not cause scandal. As St. Alphonsus warned, scandal is a truly grave sin, which is why Christ so often mentions it in the Gospels and why in our reading today He characterizes these scandalizers as thieves and robbers of souls. Not only the explicit, obvious meaning of our written statements are important – we should also be careful of the implications of what we say and do, which are just as liable to cause scandal.

May we enter through the Gate legitimately, let in by the porters whom Christ has given a share in His authority, wisdom and sanctity, so that we may hear and respond to the unique voice of our Good Shepherd.

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According to early Christian accounts, St. Mark was close friends with St. Peter and served as his interpreter. In writing his Gospel, St. Mark was not himself an eyewitness of the events he described, and he thus likely based his Gospel on the accounts shared by St. Peter. St. Mark’s Gospel is the most concise of the four Gospels, rapidly recounting one event immediately after another without extraneous detail, which is believed to be due to the likely fact that he was recording St. Peter’s memories. Of course, this does not detract from the fact that St. Mark is the rightful human author of his Gospel and that he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Rather, it adds a deeper level of credibility to his Gospel, since he was not himself an eyewitness, and gives us a glimpse into the memories of St. Peter, the head of the Apostles.

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Today’s Gospel, which is from the Gospel of St. Mark, recounts how Jesus sent the eleven faithful Apostles out into the world to spread the Gospel after His Resurrection. In St. Mark’s account, Christ ascended into Heaven immediately after sending the Apostles out into the whole world to proclaim the Gospel to all men. This points to the reality that Christ’s Ascension fulfilled what He had accomplished through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. In His Ascension, Our Lord prepared the way by going before us to Heaven, where He intercedes for us to the Father and pours forth spiritual gifts upon us. It is our role to accept these graces and remain faithful to Him so that we might join Him in the place He has prepared for us.

For this reason, as Our Lord tells the Apostles and us in today’s Gospel, we must proclaim the Gospel to every creature, for “whoever does not believe will be condemned “ (Mk 16:15). St. Mark gave his life as a witness of this faith, receiving martyrdom in Alexandria by being dragged through the streets (Catholic Online). May he intercede for the Church and for each one of her members, that we may courageously proclaim the Gospel through both our words and actions, with the goal of not only attaining our own salvation but also helping those around us reach salvation in fulfillment of Christ’s command.

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First, it can be helpful to call to mind the events of Matthew 12, when Jesus tells the Pharisees that “something greater than the temple is here” after they were questioning His disciples plucking grain on the sabbath. For Jews, the temple was by far the most important place, as it was where God Himself dwelt. That being said, for Jesus to claim to be greater than the temple in this instance was a rather bold statement; the only one who can claim to be greater than such a holy place would be the One who dwells in that very place. In today’s Gospel, Jesus does the same sort of thing when He Himself takes authority over the Jewish law; the Jews know they aren’t supposed to consume flesh and blood, yet Christ tells them to consume His, and He says that they won’t have life unless they do so. For Jesus to claim that He can give life to the people through the consumption of His Body and Blood shows that He is asserting authority over the rules the Jews had lived by within Scripture. The only one who can have definitive authority over the Scriptures inspired by God is the One who inspired them: God. He is thus showing Himself as the divine lifegiver.

Next - Jesus had the chance to calm down the concerns of the Jews if He had to. They were wondering how He could ask them to eat flesh and drink blood; instead of reassuring them that He was only speaking symbolically or in a metaphor, He does the opposite - He presses His command even more. He says “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.” He intensifies His statement by saying they won’t have life within them. He says “Amen, amen” to make sure they know to pay close attention. Anything spoken by Our Lord throughout the Gospels is important, but when he says “amen” twice, He is especially asking us to pay even closer attention to what He speaks. He doesn’t diminish his statement; He intensifies it to show its truth.

He goes so far as to say “I will raise them up on the last day” regarding those who obey Him (John 6:54). Think about it - whenever we say “I will” about something we are to do, we often speak of something we are hoping will happen. When Christ is speaking here, He is speaking of what He hopes will happen: He hopes we will listen to His command so that we can live with Him forever. Again, He outlines this so clearly because He deeply wants eternal communion with us; He wants us to know the way to get there. We are created from God; we are designed to live in community with Him.

He emphasizes that His Body is true food and that His Blood is true drink (John 6:55). What do food and drink do, if not nourish our bodies and give us the sustenance we need to keep living? Jesus here is telling us that consuming Him will literally nourish our bodies and give us the sustenance we need to keep living. In verse 56, we read that when we do receive Him in this way, He will abide in each of us and each of us will abide in Him. He is proclaiming again here that He Himself is who gives us life, saying that “whoever eats me will live because of me” (John 6:57). Again, after the concern of the Jews, Jesus had the chance to calm their concerns, but he instead responds by literally telling them to eat him.

In verse 58, Jesus says to the Jews that the bread that is His Body is not like the bread their ancestors who died ate. When we eat His Body, we will live. He says this all while teaching in the synagogue (John 6:59). He is saying that His Body is not like the manna that the Israelites were given in the desert. It is much more than that, like the fulfillment of the original purpose of the manna; this bread will provide true and lasting life. Again, He is asserting authority over the Scriptures, and He is doing so in their synagogue. This was a huge deal for them to be hearing in their community. That is why they were so unsettled.

The Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus, is the source and summit of our faith; it is the soul and life of the Church. As Catholics, we honor what Jesus says today. We don’t downplay His statements simply because Jesus Himself didn’t downplay them. He emphasized them even more, so we do as well. That is why we go to Mass every week to receive His Body and Blood.

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John 6:44-51

44 No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me.

46 Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.

The Douay Rheims explains:

[44] “Draw him”: Not by compulsion, nor by laying the free will under any necessity, but by the strong and sweet motions of his heavenly grace.

Over the last few hundred years, a relatively brief period in the history of Christianity, countless Protestants have cited the beginning of today’s Gospel to justify that they felt drawn, or “called” by God to become ministers. Many have formed their own churches. To date, there are estimated to be somewhere around 50,000 Protestant denominations. Each of these denominations contain ministers, writers and teachers who disagree with each other over matters of doctrine, theology and morals. That, is how new Protestant denominations are formed, through schism. Each founder of a new Protestant church feels drawn, led, called to state that his understanding of the Bible is the only valid one, or that the current leaders of his denomination have lost their way, and that he must form a new church to preach the truth to the world. Each Protestant who does so claims the “Bible alone” as his soul authority... even though the Bible clearly states that Jesus gave the fullness of the truth to His Apostles, authorized them to teach in His name and form one Church, that there would be no new revelation and forbids schism.

Each of these Protestant denominations disagree with each other. But, there are three things on which they do agree. 1) Protestantism right and the Catholic Church is wrong. 2) Anyone can read the Bible and understand everything in it exactly as intended by God. 3) Jesus couldn’t have truly meant that He would give us His flesh through the Eucharist as stated in today’s Gospel. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about that in today’s first reading, Acts 8:26-40:

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza: this is desert. 27 And rising up, he went. And behold a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch, of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge over all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem to adore. 28 And he was returning, sitting in his chariot, and reading Isaias the prophet. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip: Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip running thither, heard him reading the prophet Isaias. And he said: Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest?

31 Who said: And how can I, unless some man shew me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 And the place of the scripture which he was reading was this: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb without voice before his shearer, so openeth he not his mouth. 33 In humility his judgment was taken away. His generation who shall declare, for his life shall be taken from the earth? 34 And the eunuch answering Philip, said: I beseech thee, of whom doth the prophet speak this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip, opening his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached unto him Jesus.

36 And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water; and the eunuch said: See, here is water: what doth hinder me from being baptized? 37 And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch: and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found in Azotus; and passing through, he preached the gospel to all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

Quite simply, the Bible explains that one must have a teacher, given authority by God, to explain the meaning of the words of the Bible. Further, the Bible forbids individual interpretation (2 Peter 1, 20-21). Given the plain words of the Bible, the tenants of Protestantism are false on their face. Of course, there can only be one truth. And that truth is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago. The Catholic Church, that gave the world the Bible, has always taught that Jesus’ words were true and always will be. Jesus instituted a Church to teach and to give us His Body and Blood through the Eucharist. The Douay Rheims explains:

[37] “If thou believest with all thy heart”: The scripture many times mentions only one disposition, as here belief, when others equally necessary are not expressed, viz., a sorrow for sins, a firm hope, and the love of God. Moreover, believing with the whole heart signifies a belief of every thing necessary for salvation

It is not enough simply to believe in Jesus as Lord. We must also believe in His Word, we must follow His commandments and submit to the Church to which He gave authority. “Pastor Bob” may believe whole heartedly that he has received some new revelation. But, if it disagrees with the teachings of the Catholic Church, it is false. False teaching may come from the mind of man or the inspiration of the devil.... we cannot be sure. But, either way, it must be rejected as heresy.

Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July - December, 2026 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRGY1D15

A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January - June, 2026 It is also available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GDK16N45

and

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK

His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic

As is customary in the weeks of Easter, we are given the great Bread of Life discourse from the Gospel of John. This discourse contains what I believe to be the most important verses regarding the Eucharist that can be found in all of Scripture.

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord speaks of the Eucharist as the Bread of Life. This is not regarding earthly life, i.e., the sustenance of our normal meal cadence. This is a food that endures to eternal life.1 Christ specifically links the reception of the Holy Eucharist to eternal life and the resurrection at the end of time. It is here that we find a very important distinction that Jesus makes all through the Bread of Life discourse:

There is a difference between normal food and the Eucharist.

Truly, this is the fundamental difference between viewing the Eucharist as symbolic and having the faith to see the true presence of Christ, as St. Thomas says, “The presence of Christ’s true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority.”2 We cannot cross that threshold of symbol to true presence without the virtue of faith.

I would argue that reading the Bread of Life discourse eliminates the possibility of a symbolic understanding of the Eucharist, which begins with Our Lord’s distinction found in today’s Gospel. Normal food does not cause eternal life to spring up within the soul of the believer. The food that we consume daily will not cause the resurrection of the body. It is meant only for the daily nutrition that is necessary for our bodies to live on this earth. But Our Lord gives us a different food. It is a food that is given not to fill our bellies, like the multiplication of the loaves was in the beginning of chapter six,3 but to effect the resurrection to eternal life. This is why Our Lord promises eternal life in the midst of this great doctrinal discourse. One follows from the other.

Following this distinction between normal food and the Eucharist, St. Paul speaks in the same way in his First Letter to the Corinthians:

In his instruction to the people of Corinth, St. Paul clearly sets the Eucharist apart from normal food and drink. No one needs to examine themselves when eating normal food. No one needs to worry about whether they are eating normal food in an unworthy manner. These things simply aren’t taken into account, and nor should they be, when one sits down to lunch.

Our Lord and St. Paul are saying the same thing. Our Lord is telling us that we must eat of the Eucharist if we desire eternal life, and St. Paul warns us that taking the Eucharist without discerning the body and in an unworthy manner brings judgment upon oneself. Normal food does not have these two extreme effects:

The ability to give eternal life if received worthily

Or

The ability to bring judgment upon oneself if received unworthily

This is not symbolic language. A symbol cannot do either of these things. A symbol cannot grant eternal life, and a symbol cannot bring judgment upon you. Only something that is efficacious and impacts the soul can do these things. Our Lord is very clear in the Bread of Life discourse as to what He is giving us. He is giving us His flesh and blood as true food and true drink.4 This is what leads St. Thomas to write:

“Some men, accordingly, not paying heed to these things, have contended that Christ’s body and blood are not in this sacrament except as in a sign, a thing to be rejected as heretical, since it is contrary to Christ’s words.”5

Christ has given us the immense gift of Himself in the Eucharist so that when received worthily, this food and drink is efficacious for eternal life. And thus, through reception of the Most Holy Eucharist, He will raise us on the last day.

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For more from Dr. McGovern, visit his Substack at A Thomist, Dedicated to the Theological tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Exploring Thomas’ Spiritual Theology and topics in Christology and Mariology.

There is a thread running through today’s readings that is easy to miss because it is so familiar.

“Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.”

It is the refrain of Psalm 31, sung today as the responsorial. It is also what Jesus says from the cross in Luke’s Gospel - words before he dies, drawn from this same psalm. And it is what Stephen says, in his own words, as the stones begin to fall: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Three voices (or one voice - Christ’s, the Word’s). One prayer. Across centuries and in the span of a single liturgy, David, Jesus, and Stephen are saying the same thing at the moment of extremity - not as resignation, but as the most deliberate act available to a person. To commend your spirit is to place yourself, consciously and completely, into hands you trust absolutely.

Stephen can say this because of what he has just seen. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he looks up - and the heavens open. He sees the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Not seated, as the creeds and most of the New Testament describe, but standing - as if rising to receive him, to witness his faithfulness, to be present at the moment of his death. Stephen looks at that vision and finds, already available to him, the language of the cross: receive my spirit, do not hold this sin against them.

He has been so formed by the paschal mystery that it becomes his own death vocabulary.

The crowd surrounding him does the opposite. They cover their ears. They cry out in a loud voice. They rush upon him together. Stephen is offering them the same vision - “I see the heavens opened” - and they cannot bear to hear it. The infuriation, the grinding of teeth, the covered ears: these are not the responses of people who have considered the evidence and found it wanting. They are the responses of people who have decided, before Stephen speaks, that they will not receive what he is offering.

The crowd in John’s Gospel is doing something similar, though more politely. They invoke the manna - “our ancestors ate bread from heaven in the desert” - and demand that Jesus produce something comparable. A sign. A demonstration. Something on their terms, in their category, that they can evaluate and accept or reject. Jesus answers by offering himself: I am the bread of life. Not a sign pointing to something else, but the thing itself. The hunger they are trying to satisfy with signs is the hunger that only he can fill.

Both crowds are asking for proof while refusing the proof being given.

Augustine, in his Tractates on John, reflects on the crowd’s request and notes that they want to see in order to believe, but that Jesus is inverting the order: you must receive in order to see.1 The bread of life is not something you analyze from a distance and then decide whether to consume. It is something that, received, changes the one who receives it - that forms in us, over time, the capacity to see what Stephen saw. The heavens opened not because Stephen had solved a theological problem but because he had been fed, and formed, and was now dying in the image of the one who had fed him.

This is a striking thing to sit with in the third week of Easter. The resurrection is not primarily an argument to be won. It is a life to be received, again and again, at the altar and in the daily prayer of the household, until it becomes - as it became for Stephen - the language we have available to us when nothing else is left.

There is one more detail in the Acts passage that Luke drops almost in passing, saving it for last: “Now Saul was consenting to his execution.”

The word Luke uses - suneudokōn - carries more than passive consent. It shares its root with the Father’s words at Jesus’s baptism: “in whom I am well pleased.” Saul is not merely failing to stop the stoning. He is actively pleased by it, approving it with satisfaction, taking a kind of pleasure in what is happening. He is there. The witnesses have laid their cloaks at his feet. He is not throwing stones himself - he is something worse, the one who frees the hands of the killers and finds the whole thing agreeable. And he will go on from this moment to pursue the Church with extraordinary violence, by his own later testimony dragging men and women to prison, consenting to their deaths.

This is the man who will become Paul.

The range of grace implied by that sentence - “Now Saul was consenting” - is almost incomprehensible. And yet there it is, embedded in the martyrdom of Stephen, a seed planted in the hardest possible soil. Chrysostom suggests that Stephen’s prayer - “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” - was answered, in part, in the conversion of the man who stood watching.2

The household that prays for the resistant ones, the stiff-necked ones, the ones who cover their ears - is praying in the company of Stephen. And the answer may take longer than we expect, and arrive in a form we could not have anticipated, and change everything.

Into your hands.

Domus Formation has built the & Altar app to bring daily Catholic prayer and formation into the rhythms of the household - with tracks for families, men, women, teens, and those in the second half of life. Because the first school of faith is the home, and every member of it deserves to be formed.

If the idea of a long story passed forward across centuries - of custody and fidelity and a flame that refuses to go out - resonates with you, I am writing it. Lux Perpetua is a serial novel publishing weekly: a free Monday chapter and a paid Thursday chapter, set in Alton, Illinois, at the edge of the Mississippi. The first chapters are live. Free readers are welcome. LuxPerpetua.net

Deacon Michael Halbrook is husband to Suzanne, father of four sons, and a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. He serves at St. Elizabeth Parish in Granite City. He is the founder of Domus Formation, a collection of Catholic prayer and formation resources for every stage of life, and he writes at DeaconMichael.net.

²² On the next day the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³ However, boats from Tibe′ri-as came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Caper′na-um, seeking Jesus.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (Jn 6:22-29 RSVCE)

Jesus, throughout his ministry, had always been beckoning those to seek a deeper meaning, not in what is merely surface oriented, but towards something deeper and even more mystical. Whether we are referring to the miracle at the wedding feast at Cana, the multiplication of the loaves of bread or even the baptism of Christ, there is simply more happening than what is initially apparent. Each of these instances, in one way or another, all lead to the mystery of the person of Christ.

Certainly, the people who were following Jesus certainly understood the importance of having a messiah, and they also were certainly aware that Jesus had the power to perform miracles. And these are all good things of course, because Jesus intended for these things to be known. However, important considerations must still be addressed, such as: 1. A proper understanding of the Messiah as Jesus would have it and 2. Actually seeking Jesus instead of just what his miracles can do for you.

When Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves (Jn 6:26).” Jesus was reminding them to not rely on perishable food alone, but also to what the miracles point to as the signs. Signs point to that which is deeper, what is essential. Additionally, when they ask, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God (Jn 6:28)?” Jesus, knowing that their theological understanding was still steeped in the transactional, lawful and deontological parameters of the Old Covenant, Jesus responds with what encapsulates the entire point of his ministry, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent (Jn 6:29).”

When we say yes to the supernatural gift of faith in the person of Christ and thus his message, then we are truly doing the first good work of God, and so our subsequent works also become the work of God via the merits of Christ. As today’s Gospel is certainly a message of faith, it also foreshadows the Eucharist by which our faith and belief in the real presence of Christ at Communion is needed, as Christ reminds us is, “The food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal (Jn 6:27).”

13 And behold, two of them went, the same day, to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus.

14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

15 And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also drawing near, went with them.

16 But their eyes were held, that they should not know him.

17 And he said to them: What are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk, and are sad?

18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to him: Art thou only a stranger to Jerusalem, and hast not known the things that have been done there in these days?

19 To whom he said: What things? And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people;

20 And how our chief priests and princes delivered him to be condemned to death, and crucified him.

21 But we hoped, that it was he that should have redeemed Israel: and now besides all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

22 Yea and certain women also of our company affrighted us, who before it was light, were at the sepulchre,

23 And not finding his body, came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that he is alive.

24 And some of our people went to the sepulchre, and found it so as the women had said, but him they found not.

25 Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken.

26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory?

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him.

28 And they drew nigh to the town, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther.

29 But they constrained him; saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them.

30 And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight.

32 And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures?

33 And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them,

34 Saying: The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

35 And they told what things were done in the way; and how they knew him in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35 DRA)

The second reading for this Third Sunday of Easter, from the Epistle of St. Peter, makes an important point related to our Gospel: “If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially

according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning”. This clearly contradicts the Protestant error of sola fide or faith alone, that works are not necessary for salvation. Even apart from the famous verse in James 2:20, “that faith without works is dead”, St. Peter unequivocally refutes this heresy.

Our Lord also disproves it in our Gospel reading, through the hospitality shown to Him by the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. As St. Augustine explains,

[B]ecause the Lord feigned as if He would go farther, when He was accompanying the disciples, expounding to them the sacred Scriptures, who knew not whether it was He, what does He mean to imply but that through the duty of hospitality men may arrive at a knowledge of Him; that when He has departed from mankind far above the heavens, He is still with those who perform this duty to His servants. He therefore holds to Christ, that He should not go far from him, whoever being taught in the word communicates in all good things to him who teaches. (Gal. 6:6.) For they were taught in the word when He expounded to them the Scriptures. And because they followed hospitality, Him whom they knew not in the expounding of the Scriptures, they know in the breaking of bread. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. (Rom. 2:13.)

The two disciples – one of whom was Cleophas, husband of “Mary of Cleophas,” one of the faithful women who stood at the foot of the Cross and visited the empty tomb earlier this morning – did not recognize Christ immediately. Nor did they recognize Him even after He revealed the allegorical sense of Scripture to them, how the Old Testament continually points to Him as its ultimate fulfillment.

The disciples’ eyes were only opened to recognize Him after they showed Him hospitality, bringing Him into their home and sharing their food with Him. With this donation, just as the unconsecrated bread and wine used in churches today are purchased with money donated by the faithful of the parish, Christ the High Priest repeated the Last Supper and Passion by transubstantiating the species of mere human food into His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – into the Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament. In this way, Christ also refutes another Protestant error, sola scriptura, since not only was His divine authority was necessary to interpret Scripture, as it would be necessary for the Ethiopian convert through the mediation of Philip (Acts 8:26ff), but the Eucharist was necessary for the disciples to see Him.

But without the disciples’ hospitality, this would never have happened. Similarly, without the hospitality and generosity of the local Catholic community, parishes could not exist, nor would the community ever receive the gift of divine life through the Sacraments confected by their priests. In a word, they would not receive the sanctifying grace necessary for salvation or the faith, hope and charity infused into their souls by the Sacraments, without the work of hospitality.

As Catholics, we know that the Old Testament was not wrong, either in its laws or its sacraments. They remain true and good for us today as for their first recipients among the Israelites. Only now, in the New Covenant and the Church, they are fulfilled and brought to completion – not corrected but elevated and revealed fully in Christ, just as He revealed the Scriptures to the disciples by showing them how they point to Him.

So, when the Old Testament repeatedly affirms the value of hospitality, in its events and teachings, we cannot dismiss it. Thus, the three angelic representatives of the Trinity only remained with Abram and Sarai because they received them with hospitality. Similarly, alone among the inhabitants of Jericho, the woman Rahab, despite being a Gentile harlot, was saved when Joshua and the Israelites conquered the city, precisely because she showed hospitality to the spies of Israel and sheltered them from the king. As St. Paul taught, “By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with the unbelievers, receiving the spies with peace.” (Heb 11:31)

Likewise, by his hospitality toward Raphael (disguised as the man Azariah), Tobias son of Tobit, who did not know at the time that he was “one of the seven, who stand before the Lord” (Tobit 12:15), was rescued from the devil, when “the angel Raphael took the devil, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt.” (Tobit 8:3) This is why hospitality is repeatedly extoled in the New Testament, including in our epistle for today and elsewhere, as when St. Paul, perhaps recalling the hospitality of Tobias, reminds us, “And hospitality do not forget; for by this some, being not aware of it, have entertained angels.” (Heb 13:2) The grace of Christ enables us to fulfill and obey the law, as He did, not to ignore it.

One of the starkest reminders of the godlessness and barbarism of modern society is its total lack of hospitality and the related virtues of good manners, respect and deference, virtues which were once ubiquitously taught to children and expected of adults. People today are taught that they and everyone else are only animals, clumps of cells floating in a void, with no meaning or value beyond their productivity or popularity, so why should they be hospitable to anyone? This is why people who work in the service industry, teaching or other jobs dealing with the public – of any age – find their work so miserable and unbearable, all while often treating customers and those around them with just as little dignity as they are treated.

If we truly want to rechristen the culture, to return society to Christ, we must recover authentic hospitality and all its related virtues. This does not, nor has it ever, meant being a doormat, ignoring any offences people commit simply to look good or maintain proprieties; people often use this excuse for not being well-mannered, but they and their hearers know it to be a mere cop-out. Instead, we should treat others with respect - and expect respect from them in turn. This is how you foster a true culture of hospitality, correcting the excessively casual, animalistic and childish culture we live in today.

May we obey St. Peter’s exhortation, to “conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning”, so that we may be enabled to see Christ in the breaking of the bread.

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With these words, Christ calmed the Apostles’ fearful hearts in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee. This event, which we hear in today’s Gospel, occurred during Christ’s public ministry, before His Death and Resurrection. However, this message of peace is consonant with Christ’s often-repeated greeting of peace after His Resurrection.

In writing about this Gospel passage, St. Thomas Aquinas points out that Our Lord did not appear to His Apostles when the storm first started; rather, He permitted them to row three or four miles before appearing. St. Thomas explains that “[w]e [can] see from this that our Lord allows us to be troubled for a while so our virtue may be tested; but [H]e does not desert us in the end, but comes very close to us” (Commentary on the Gospel of John).

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Despite our best efforts to live in harmony with the Church’s liturgical seasons, we can sometimes struggle to feel joy as the Church celebrates the glorious Easter season. Our participation in the beautiful and joyful liturgical festivities of the season can feel hollow when we’re experiencing a time of grief or suffering in our own lives. Today’s Gospel reading reminds us that neither Our Lord nor the Church abandons us in the midst of these sufferings, even in the midst of Easter celebrations.

Just as the risen Christ greeted His Apostles with words of peace, so too He told them to not be afraid in the midst of the storm. In like manner, He tells us to not be afraid in the midst of the storms of life. This peace of which Our Lord so often spoke is partly the mental absence of anxiety, but even deeper than this, it is a spiritual peace and even joy that comes from the assurance that no matter what storms befall us in life, Christ is using all things to bring about His glory and our salvation. As St. Paul wrote, “God is faithful… [and] will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor 10:13 DRB).

This is truly cause for joy, even in the midst of suffering. When we are in the state of grace, we have the assurance that God is with us, residing in our souls, and His grace is protecting us from all suffering that is beyond our strength. As St. Padre Pio said, “Easter reminds us that God’s love is stronger than any suffering or darkness we may encounter.” God often permits us to suffer the storms of life for a time, sometimes appearing to be very far from us as He was for the first few miles of the Apostles’ treacherous journey in the boat. Nonetheless, because of the reality of His Resurrection, we have the assurance that He is stronger than the greatest suffering we could ever endure in this life. He Who triumphed over sin and death has already won the victory for us; if we remain faithful, we will merit a share in this victory after our time in this valley of tears is finished.

Like the Apostles on the Sea of Galilee, Christ does not truly leave us alone in our sufferings. Every time we receive Holy Communion in the state of grace, Our Lord comes into our hearts physically, closer even than He was to His Apostles in the boat on the sea. He comes to us with the quiet yet steadfast promise: “It is I. Do not be afraid.” As we continue this Easter season, may the peace of God fill our hearts, filling us with the supernatural joy found only in the promise of the risen Christ.

In verse 3, we see Jesus going up a mountain and sitting down with his disciples; just a few verses later, after being told of the shortage of bread and fish, Jesus wants the people to sit down. This passage is highly symbolic; in the Old Testament, we see Moses going up Mount Sinai to talk to God. Jesus goes up the mountain, sits down with the people, and subsequently distributes an abundant amount of bread and fish to them after giving thanks. God is found at the top of the mountain in both of these scenarios. In the Old Testament, he meets Moses at the top to speak with him. In the Gospel today, Jesus shows Himself as God by meeting His people at the top of the mountain and speaking to them, making possible what seems impossible by multiplying the bread and the fish. And, while doing so, He is sitting with the people. He is getting on their level; He is showing the love He has for them. In His very Incarnation, Jesus got on our level in becoming human because He wanted to understand us in an even deeper way. He continuously shows the love of God in this way and even more so as He reveals His divinity.

Twelve baskets are filled with fragments from the fish and the loaves. The number twelve carries much significance in salvation history. The twelve sons of Jacob became the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s people. In this age of the New Covenant, there are twelve apostles leading the New Israel, and they gather fragments of a new covenant meal for God’s people. The Lord continually shows us that we are specially chosen by Him; Jesus performs miracles all around us so that we may know who He truly is and how He loves us.

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John 3:31-36

31 He that cometh from above, is above all. He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh. He that cometh from heaven, is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth: and no man receiveth his testimony. 33 He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: for God doth not give the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loveth the Son: and he hath given all things into his hand.

36 He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Today’s Gospel is a continuation of yesterday’s theme. We must obey Christ and those to whom He gave authority to speak and teach in His stead. Our first reading shows the Holy Apostles defying civil and religious authority:

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 Saying: Commanding we commanded you, that you should not teach in this name; and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you have a mind to bring the blood of this man upon us. 29 But Peter and the apostles answering, said: We ought to obey God, rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom you put to death, hanging him upon a tree.

31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. 32 And we are witnesses of these things and the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to all that obey him. 33 When they had heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they thought to put them to death.

Even though our Lord had admonished His followers to obey civil and religious authority, even if corrupt, they had no choice but to obey Jesus as the higher authority. It should be obvious that the author of morality and law must be obeyed over any earthly authority not authorized specifically to speak in His stead and in accord with His teachings. But, we are forced to submit to immoral laws such as those that legalize abortion and “no fault” divorce. Few have the courage to stand up for God and His Church.

In the early decades of Protestant England, Catholics were threatened with death, loss of position, wealth and property if they would not denounce Catholicism and swear to the king and the false church he had invented. Most did, but countless faithful Catholics were tortured and killed rather than betray Christ and His Church. Frankly, it is no wonder that the early Protestants removed the books of Maccabees from the Bible so that Christians would not have their heroic martyrdom in defense of the religion given to them by God as an example.

Although I cannot find the quote, a story attributed to Saint Thomas Moore during that time is illustrative. It is said that his nephew encouraged him to sign the oath to the king and his false church, even if he did not believe it. He tried, quite logically, to convince him that he could lie to man but be loyal to God. This was a mirror image of the faithful, elderly Jew, respected by all in Maccabees, who was presented with the same arguments. He allowed himself to be tortured and killed rather than to betray God or to provide a bad example for the youth. Moore, from his prison cell replied, “The question is not why I am in here. The question is why are you out there?”

In our time, the history of the genocide that England waged on both faithful English Catholics and the Catholic, Celtic nations has been largely erased. So have the murders of “peasants” and the wars for which Martin Luther boastfully took credit in authorizing and inspiring. The same is true of the French Revolution, the Spanish Revolution, the Mexican Revolution and the hundreds of millions slaughtered by communists who oppose the Catholic Church. Just as they removed Maccabees from the Bible, Protestants present a very false history, making absurd accusations against Catholicism while ignoring the facts that undermine their teaching. Unfortunately, most absolutely believe the lies they have been taught and hate the Church with an irrational passion based on falsehood. But, many non religious oppose the Church and her teachings because they are secularists who accept only the authority of government, academia and modern culture. In face of this opposition, we must remember the words of today’s Psalm, “Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the LORD delivers him.”

Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July - December, 2026 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRGY1D15

A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January - June, 2026 It is also available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GDK16N45

and

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK

His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic

Today’s Gospel is probably the most recognizable in all of Scripture. For today, I want to concentrate on the sacrifice which Christ has made, this giving of His only-begotten Son. This giving of the Son is the most perfect demonstration of how God so loved the world.

St. Thomas writes very beautifully on the love with which Christ lays down His life:

St. Thomas teaches that the atonement is a result of the offended (God) being offered something that He loves more (Christ) than He hated the offense (Man’s sin). The reason for this is two-fold: God loves Christ more than anything else in existence, and the sacrifice of Christ was offered in perfect charity and obedience, so it has a surpassing merit. Thus, St. Thomas teaches that Our Lord gives more to God than was required to atone. If we frame this in the style of a debt, which St. Thomas frequently does, Christ paid more than what was owed in the debt.

This is the great love of God. Not just in the offering by the Father but in the laying down of the Son’s life.

St. Thomas brings out this immense love in his commentary on this passage:

So he shows us here, from four standpoints, that this love of God is the greatest. First, from the person of the one loving, because it is God who loves, and immeasurably. So he says, for God so loved; he has loved the people; all the holy ones are in his hand (Deut 33:3). Second, from the condition of the one who is loved, because it is man, a bodily creature of the world, i.e., existing in sin: God shows his love for us, because while we were still his enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son (Rom 5:8). Thus he says, the world. Third, from the greatness of his gifts, for love is shown by a gift; as Gregory says: the proof of love is given by action. But God has given us the greatest of gifts, his only begotten Son, and so he says, that he gave his only begotten Son. God did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for all of us (Rom 8:32)...Fourth, from the greatness of its fruit, because through him we have eternal life. Hence, he says, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life, which he obtained for us through the death of the cross.2

Here, he gives us a simple formulation in four points:

1. God loves man immeasurably

2. He loves us even though we have infinitely offended Him with sin

3. He loves so much that He gives us the greatest gift He can, the life of the Son.

4. The result of that gift is eternal life.

We always want to remember: God did not have to do this. He was under no requirement to shower us with this great mercy. But He chose to do this out of His immeasurable love for man.

God so loved the world.

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For more from Dr. McGovern, visit his Substack at A Thomist, Dedicated to the Theological tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Exploring Thomas’ Spiritual Theology and topics in Christology and Mariology.

He comes at night.

Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a man of education and standing - and he comes to Jesus in the dark, privately, carefully, with real questions. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.” He is drawn. He is serious. He is not yet ready to be seen.

Jesus receives him and immediately says something that confounds him completely: you must be born from above. Nicodemus, the careful man, the man who manages his approach and his timing and his public reputation, hears this and asks the only question available to him: “How can this happen?”

And Jesus answers with an image that cannot be managed at all.

“The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

You cannot predict it. You cannot control it. You cannot schedule a private meeting with it under cover of darkness and ask it careful questions. The wind blows where it wills. The Spirit moves as it chooses. The only posture available to a person before that reality is not comprehension but surrender - not how can this happen but let it happen to me.

Nicodemus is not a villain in this scene. He is a man in the moment just before the wind reaches him. He is asking the last question available to a person who is still, just barely, standing outside.

Set beside him, three chapters and three years later in the life of the early Church, is a man named Joseph.

Luke tells us almost nothing about him except this: the apostles called him Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. He was a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, a man of some property. He sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

That is the whole story. One sentence. And yet Luke includes it, by name, in his account of the Jerusalem community - a community in which no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, in which there was no needy person among them, in which the resurrection had so thoroughly rearranged the relationship between people and their things that property simply moved to where it was needed.

Barnabas did not invent this community. He inhabited it. But he inhabited it in a way that was visible, that was named, that put courage into those around him by acting first. The son of encouragement earns his name not by saying encouraging things but by doing an encouraging thing - a concrete, costly, irreversible act that showed everyone watching what it looked like to live as though the resurrection were actually true.

Nicodemus and Barnabas are not usually read together. But the lectionary places them in the same week of Eastertide, and I think it is asking us to see them as a pair - not opposites, but a before and after.

Nicodemus gets there. John includes him twice more: at the arrest, where he quietly asks whether Jesus deserves a hearing (7:50-51), and at the tomb, where he comes with a hundred pounds of spices to anoint the body of the one he had visited in the night (19:39). He arrives slowly, carefully, in the dark - but he arrives. The wind, it turns out, had already reached him. He just needed time to know it.

What Barnabas represents is what it looks like when the wind is fully at work within a person. Not a heroic personality type, not a spiritual gift, not a charism available only to the unusually generous. Just a man so thoroughly yielded to the resurrection that a field no longer seemed worth keeping when someone else needed the money from it.

St. John Chrysostom, reflecting on this passage in his Homilies on Acts, marvels not at the size of the gift but at the totality of the interior freedom it reveals - that a man could hold property and then simply not hold it anymore, because the thing that once gave security had been replaced by something that actually gave it.1

This is the Easter question the second week presses, quietly but insistently: has the resurrection actually rearranged anything?

Not in some grand, heroic, sell-all-your-fields sense - though for some people, at some moments, that is exactly what it asks. But in the ordinary life of the household: in what we hold and what we release, in who we encourage and what it costs us, in whether the people nearest to us would say that something in us is different since Easter, or whether we have returned to exactly the life we were living before Holy Week.

Encouragement - the word carries its roots with it: to put courage into. Barnabas did not merely give money. He gave courage to everyone who watched him act. The household member who prays first, who forgives first, who gives first, who names the faith first in a room where it might not be welcomed - is doing the same thing. Putting courage into the people nearest to them by showing what it looks like to live as though the resurrection were actually true.

The wind blows where it wills. You cannot schedule a meeting with it. But you can - in the small, visible, costly choices of daily life - show the people in your home what it sounds like when it moves through a person.

That is what a son of encouragement does.

The domestic church doesn’t form itself. It needs daily content, daily prayer, and daily encounter with Scripture, rooted in the Church’s liturgical life, shaped for the rhythms of a real household. Domus Formation is built for exactly this. One app & site. Tracks for Catholic families (Hearth & Altar), men, women, teens, and those in the second half of life (Eventide & Altar). Daily reflections, audio, and formation that follow the liturgical year — for every member of the household, together. This is what it looks like to put courage into the people living under your roof. WeAreDomus.com

If the idea of a long story passed forward across centuries - of custody and fidelity and a flame that refuses to go out - resonates with you, I am writing it. Lux Perpetua is a serial novel publishing weekly on my own platform: a free Monday chapter and a paid Thursday chapter, set in Alton, Illinois, at the edge of the Mississippi. The first chapters are live. Free readers are welcome. LuxPerpetua.net

Deacon Michael Halbrook is husband to Suzanne, father of four sons, and a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. He serves at St. Elizabeth Parish in Granite City. He is the founder of Domus Formation, a collection of Catholic prayer and formation resources for every stage of life, and he writes at DeaconMichael.net.

Painting by John La Farge, 1880.

In today’s Gospel reading, we encounter Nicodemus, a Pharisee who comes to Christ under the cover of night. He is a man of authority and learning, and unlike most of his colleagues, he approaches Jesus with an open, but obviously restless, heart. “Rabbi,” he says, “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” Nicodemus believes in Him, yes, but he is still cautious, searching. Still hidden in the darkness.

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Christ responds with a teaching that goes far beyond anything Nicodemus expects: “Unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus is, of course, baffled. Confused. The faithful member of the Sanhedrin does not understand what Jesus means, though he desperately wants to. “How can a man once grown old be born again?” He asks, his mind already muddled, stuck only on what he can see. Man cannot possibly reenter his mother’s womb, he tells Jesus. So, to him, this makes no sense.

Christ goes on to explain that this new birth is “of water and Spirit.” What is born of flesh remains flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is entirely new. This is not just about becoming a better person. It is about being changed from within and receiving a new life from God. This is the life we are given in Baptism, where we are made new!

Jesus then compares the Spirit to the wind, which “blows where it wills.” He also reminds Nicodemus that “you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” All we can do, then, is to surrender everything to the King of Kings.

Keep Our Mission Alive

In many ways, we can already see this at work in Nicodemus. Though the Pharisee does come in the dead of night, the Spirit is already “shaking things up.” His questions and uncertainty are not signs of failure. They are, in fact, the opposite!

We often experience this, too. At times, we may sense a gentle pull towards God. It might be the urge to pray again, or the feeling that something in our lives needs to change. Like the wind, these moments are subtle and easy to overlook, but they matter all the same. We are, in short, being invited to take up our crosses and follow Him!

And just like Nicodemus, we may not see where God is taking us, but if we remain open to it, the Spirit will guide us out of darkness and into the light. After all, as St. Francis de Sales once said, “The will of God will not lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you!”

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