May 3, 2026
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Lectionary: 52
First Reading: Acts 6:1-7
As the number of disciples continued to grow,
the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews
because their widows
were being neglected in the daily distribution.
So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,
“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.
Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,
filled with the Spirit and wisdom,
whom we shall appoint to this task,
whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word.”
The proposal was acceptable to the whole community,
so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,
also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
They presented these men to the apostles
who prayed and laid hands on them.
The word of God continued to spread,
and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly;
even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Second Reading: 1 Pt 2:4-9
Beloved:
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
and, like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it says in Scripture:
Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.
Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone, and
A stone that will make people stumble,
and a rock that will make them fall.
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.
You are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people of his own,
so that you may announce the praises” of him
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Alleluia: John 14:6
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father, except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: John 14:1-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.”
Reflection
The Gospel today is almost the middle part of the Last Supper Discourse found in St. John’s Gospel which starts in Chapter 13 and culminates in Chapter 17 with the Prayer of the High Priest of heaven and earth to the Father.
It is worth considering that the words of Jesus in the said discourse practically make up our Lord’s “last will and testament” because He knew what was going to happen to him on Good Friday. Since Jesus is true man and true God, human nature will dictate that what he said thereat would be some of the richest teaching our Lord would ever reveal and they would form doctrine of the Church and faith.
Jesus’ mission was to save mankind from everlasting death because such is the will of God. The solution was to obey the New Commandment: “love one another” (John 13:34). We have to love like Jesus by believing and knowing Him who was sent by the Father who loved the world so much that He sent Him (His only begotten Son), and whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life (see John 3:16).
Our Trinitarian Faith
“The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves” (John 14:10-11).
Saint John’s Gospel Prologue starts with these words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1: 1-3).
Saint John declares that Jesus is the Word of God and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3). In other words, nothing in the universe came to be without the Father willing it and without speaking it through his Word. What the Father wills, he realizes through his spoken Word. What the Father utters, he speaks through his Word, and it comes to be or into being by the animation of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Word is not some audible sound or arrangement of letters, and it is not some alphabet or piece of paper with letters written on it. God’s Word is a person. The Word of God is the Son because He is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten not made and consubstantial with the Father. Through him all things were made (from the Nicene Creed).
The oneness of the Father and Son is so real and true that the powerful and unending transmission of life and love between them requires a third person to convey their unity to each other in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, when Jesus says that “the Father who dwells in me is doing his works”, he is just revealing a fact which has existed since creation. This is the reason why we have always believed that no person in the Godhead is older than the other because they have “existed” in unity since the beginning (noting that God has no beginning and end; time is merely a unit of measure for reference purposes when we compare it to what is eternal).
Jesus was incarnate and became man because of the will of the Father to save mankind from everlasting death, and Jesus always seeks the will of the Father and obeys it because he makes God’s will a reality in His person in the temporal realm. It was (and still is) the will of the God the Father that all men be saved and the only solution was the incarnation of the promised salvation in the person of Jesus not in servitude but out of the unconditional, unlimited and unfathomable love and mercy of God. Jesus loves the Father in total trust and obedience, and is one with the Father’s will to save mankind from everlasting death by defeating death on the Cross.
What did Jesus mean by ‘the Father who dwells in me is doing his works’?
What are these ‘works of the Father’? The answer is Divine Fatherhood rooted in Divine Love. Among all the attributes of God, the greatest is fatherhood because he was Father even before time. God our Father has been Father to the only begotten Son before everything came to be. Therefore, everything that Jesus did and said or does and says is rooted in the work of God as Father of us all.
Yes, God is Creator. However, God is creator insofar as creation is concerned. When time gives way to eternity at the end of the age, God ceases to be the divine creator but he will never ceased to be Father of the Son and to all of the elect in heaven. He was Father even before man came to be. And, He will be Father to us all in heaven, with all the Angels and Saints, forever and ever.
Yes, God is Mercy. However, when all of the elect have been saved and entered into Heaven, God will cease to be our merciful God because there will be nothing more to forgive in heaven.
Yes, God is the Divine Judge. However, His final and definitive judgment will come at the second coming of our Lord Jesus when He renders judgment upon the living and the dead. After this, there will be nothing to judge because the salvation plan will see its completion and fulfillment at that time.
God our Father loves us all unconditionally and without limit. It goes without saying that as our Father, He wants only what’s best for us and what is best is to be in His presence forever. It is when we sin that we choose our separate way instead of God’s way and it is sin that separates us from God. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This means that even when we disobey God, even in our unfaithfulness which deserves death as punishment, He still rolled out His salvation through the death of Jesus on the Cross on Good Friday.
Jesus did His work of salvation because the Father wanted all mankind to be saved. The planned salvation had to be set in motion by the Word of God because it was conceived even before time started. And this is the reason why God’s salvation couldn’t be replicated or copied by anybody because the person who was aggrieved is God. It takes a perfect sacrifice to appease God for the sins of the world. The person who was mocked by man’s disobedience and sin is no less than God himself. Therefore, only God, in the person of Christ, could save mankind because anything less would be unjust, imperfect and unworthy of God’s appeasement. The perfect sacrifice is the one capable of taking away the sins of the world and that has to involve a priest who mediates between God and man, and He has to be true God and true man. There is only one who fits the bill—our Lord Jesus.
This is the reason why the work of saving His children is a continuous process until the last child listed in the book of the elect enters heaven. The entire work of salvation has been executed and completed by Jesus by the will of the Father and we are merely waiting for the return of Christ at the end of time when He judges the living and the dead. Those who obeyed will receive their reward in heaven and those who disobeyed will be thrown into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (see Matthew 13:42).
This is the kind of God that we have – a just, loving and merciful Father who only wants the best for His children. He cannot be compared to any father on earth because He is our perfect Father and His fatherhood is the best there is. God loves each and every one of us more than we can love ourselves and He knows us more than we can know ourselves.
God, we thank you for being our Father and thank you for making us your children. Father, we thank you for being our God forever.
Second Reading
“…let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)
Last week was Good Shepherd Sunday and Jesus calls all mankind to enter His sheep pen because it was His prayer to the Father at the Last Supper that all be one, led by Him who is the one Shepherd of His one flock. The flock being referred to is none other than the Church He built, of which He serves as the cornerstone, foundation and mystical head. Please remember that the concept of our Lord being the Good Shepherd necessarily includes the topic of the Church, its management and leadership. All bishops have crosiers, also known as a pastoral staff, and it symbolizes the governing office of a bishop as an overseer and head shepherd of a diocese—the smallest geo-episcopal division.
Today, Saint Peter, our first Pope, fulfills our Lord’s mandate of making disciples of all nations by reminding all of us to come into the Church and allow ourselves to be built into a spiritual house of which Jesus is the builder, the foundation cornerstone, the Eternal High Priest and unblemished sacrificial Lamb of God. These elements of priest, sacrifice and church inevitably point to one thing: the worship of the one true God.
Though the church may refer to the edifice or place of Christian worship, it more importantly refers to the congregation of faithful Christians all over the world who were baptized into the one faith and one flock of Jesus. Throughout the ages, generations and generations of people have come into the Church to profess their belief in our Trinitarian God. Some have already died and some of them have already inherited their everlasting reward of communion with the Trinity in heaven. So long as babies are being born every day, we can safely say that God has not lost hope in humanity and the world because every life born into this world is given a chance at everlasting life through the salvation of Jesus on the Cross.
All those who come into the Church are obliged to help build up, increase the numbers of those who come in and spread the faith to the ends of the earth in fulfillment of the mission order of Christ before He ascended to Father. To assure this, the Church will always have the presence of the Life and animator in the person of the Holy Spirit as the guaranty of God’s faithful adherence to the New and Everlasting Covenant by simply being our God and Father because the Church is His Kingdom and family.
The call for us to always abide in Jesus (John 15:4) cannot be more pronounced and truer than our incorporation into His body which baptism, as a sacrament, actually does and bestows. It elevates us into the status of heir and child of God’s kingdom. Saint Peter said: “…baptism, saves you now” (1 Peter 3:21) and echoed by St. Paul when he said: “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Corinthians 12:27). These are not just statement of facts or more importantly doctrine for our belief. These are realities that maybe unseen by the naked eye but are no less powerful because of the grace that baptism and our incorporation into the Body of Christ bestow. Baptism is so real and true that every Christian baptized in our trinitarian faith is indelibly marked as a child of God forever, even if that child rejects God and the faith.
A blessed Fifth Sunday of Easter to everyone.
– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry