1. "For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth" (Jn 17:19).

Dear brothers and sisters, today, in the liturgy of this Sunday after the Ascension of the Lord, the Church proclaims the words of Christ's priestly prayer. In the midst of the apostles gathered in prayer in the Upper Room with Mary, the Mother of Christ, these words resound with an echo that is still relevant today. Christ pronounced these words very recently, in his farewell discourse on the evening of Holy Thursday, before entering into the passion.

He then turned to the Father, like so many other times, but in an entirely new way. He asked: "Holy Father, keep in thy name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we . . . Guard them . . . as I have kept them, as I have watched over them . . . but now I come to you . . I leave the world . . . I ask not that you take them out of the world but that you guard them from the Evil One . . Consecrate them in truth. Your word is truth . . . Those I have sent into the world, as thou hast sent into the world me. For them I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in the truth" (Jn 17:11 ff.).

2. Here is the great prayer of Christ's heart. Today, it is spoken in this liturgy that we celebrate in the centre of your country, at the foot of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. This is the language of the Redeemer's heart. Here we find expressed the most profound characteristics that marked his whole life, his whole messianic mission. Here comes the moment when this life and this mission come to their end and at the same time reach their climax.

The climax is this: "I consecrate myself". It is a mysterious, profound word, which in a certain sense is equivalent to saying: "I sanctify myself", "I give myself totally to the Father", or even "I sacrifice myself", "I offer my person, my life as a holy offering to God for mankind and, in so doing, they pass from this world to my Father". It is the supreme and definitive word, and at the same time the most elevated word in the dialogue between the figure and the Father. Through this sentence he places, in a certain sense, the messianic seal on the whole work of redemption.

At the same time, in this 'I consecrate myself' the apostles are included; the whole Church is included in it, until the end of time. And so do all of us who are gathered here in front of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. In the words of the priestly prayer, the Church is born from the consecration of the Son to the Father, only to be born later on the cross when these words 'become incarnate', when this heart is pierced by the spear of the Roman centurion.

3. Qu'est-ce que Jésus demande pour ses Apôtres, pour l'Eglise, pour nous? Que nous soyons nous aussi consacrés dans la vérité. This Truth is the Word of the living God. Le Verbe du Père, le Fils. Et c'est aussi la parole du Père à travers le Fils. Le Verbe s'est fait chair, puis s'est exprimé, au milieu du monde. Au milieu de l'histoire de l'humanité.

Et en même temps, lui, le Christ, le Verbe incarné, "n'est pas du monde" (Cf. Io. 17, 14), La Parole qu'il a transmise du Père, la Bonne Nouvelle, l'Evangile, n'est pas du monde. Et ceux qui acceptent entièrement cette Parole peuvent facilement attirer sur eux la haine, par le fait de ne pas être du monde.

Et pourtant, seule cette Parole est Vérité. C'est la vérité ultime. C'est la plénitude de la vérité. Elle tait participer à la Vérité dont vit Dieu lui-même.

A travers l'expression pathétique de la prière sacerdotale, à travers la profonde émotion du Cœur du Christ, l'Eglise a conscience, une fois pour toutes, que seule cette Vérité est salvatrice, qu'il ne lui est permis, à aucune condition, de changer cette Vérité pour quelque autre que ce soit, de la confondre avec quelque autre, même si, humainement, elle semblait plus "vraisemblable", plus suggestive, plus adaptée à la mentalité du jour.

Par le cri du Cœur de Jésus au Cénacle et par la Croix qui l'a confirmé, l'Eglise se sent affirmie dans cette Vérité: consacrée dans la Vérité.

La prière sacerdotale est en même temps une grande "supplication" de l'Eglise. L'Apôtre Paul la reprendra en écrivant à Timothée: "Garde le dépôt" (depositum custodi) (1 Tim. 6, 20), ou encore: "Nevous modelez pas sur le monde présent" (nolite conformari huic saeculo) (Rom. 12, 2), autrement dit, ne devenez pas semblables à ce qui est transitoire, à ce que le monde proclame.

3. What does Jesus ask for his apostles, for the Church, for us? May we also be consecrated in the truth. This truth is the Word of the living God. The Word of the Father, the Son. And it is also the word of the Father through the Son: the Word became flesh, then was expressed, in the bosom of the world. In terms of the history of humanity.

At the same time he, Christ, the Word incarnate, "is not of the world" (cf. John 17: 14). The word that he transmitted from the Father, the good news, the gospel, is not of the world. And those who accept this word entirely can easily draw hatred upon themselves, for they are not of the world. And yet, this word alone is truth. He is the supreme truth. He is the fullness of truth. It partakes of that truth of which God himself lives.

Through the passionate expression of the priestly prayer, through the profound emotion of the heart of Christ, the Church is aware, once and for all, that only this truth is salvific, that she is not allowed, under any conditions, to change this truth in favour of any other, to confuse it with any other, even if, humanly speaking, it should seem more plausible, more suggestive, more suited to today's mentality. Through the cry of Jesus' heart in the Upper Room and through the cross that confirmed it, the Church feels consolidated in this truth: consecrated in truth.

The priestly prayer is at the same time a great "supplication" of the Church. The Apostle Paul took it up again when he wrote to Timothy: "Guard the deposit . . ." (1 Tim 6:20), or again: "Do not be conformed to the mentality of this age" (Rom 12:2), in other words, do not become similar to what is transitory, to what the world proclaims.

4. Telle est la grande prière du Cœur du Rédempteur. Elle explique tout le dessein de la Rédemption et la Rédemption trouve en elle son explication.

What does the Son ask of the Father? "Keep my disciples faithful to your name, which you have shared with me, that they may be one, as we are one" (Io. 17, 11).

L'Eglise naît de cette prière du Cœur de Jésus avec la marque de l'Unité divine. Pas seulement de l'unité humaine, sociologique, mais de l'Unité divine "pour qui'ls soient un comme nous" (Ibid. 17, 22), "Comme toi, Père, tu es en moi et moi en toi" (Ibid. 17, 21). This unity is the fruit of love.

"Si nous nous aimons les uns les autres, Dieu demeure en nous . . .". Nous reconnaissons que nous demeurons en lui et lui en nous, à ce qu'il nous donne part à son Esprit . . . Dieu est amour: "Celui qui demeure dans l'amour demeure en Dieu, et Dieu en lui" (1 Io. 4, 12-13. 16).

Il s'agit donc de l'unité qui a son origine en Dieu. L'Unité qui est en Dieu est la vie du Père dans le Fils et la vie du Fils dans le Père, dans l'unité de l'Esprit Saint. L'unité en laquelle Dieu un et trine se communique dans l'Esprit Saint aux cœurs humains, aux consciences humaines, aux communautés humaines.

Cette unité doit être vécue, concrètement, au niveau de chaque famille chrétienne, de chaque communauté ecclésiale, de chaque Eglise locale, de l'Eglise universelle, comme un reflet du mystère de l'unité en Dieu.

Cette unité stimule aussi l'esprit communautaire dans la communauté mondiale.

4. Such is the great prayer of the Redeemer's heart. It explains the whole design of redemption and redemption finds its own explanation in it. What does the Son ask of the Father? "Keep in thy name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one" (Jn 17:11). From this prayer of the heart of Jesus the Church is born with the sign of divine unity. Not only of human, sociological unity, but of divine unity "that they may be as we are one" (Jn 17:22). "As you, Father, are in me and I in you" (Jn 17:21). This unity is the fruit of love. "If we love one another, God abides in that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us the gift of his Spirit . . . God is love; he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:12-13. 16).

It is therefore the unity that has its origin in God. The unity that is in God is the life of the Father in the Son and the life of the Son in the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. The unity in which the triune God communicates himself in the Holy Spirit to human hearts, human consciences, human communities. This unity must be lived out concretely, at the level of every Christian family, every ecclesial community, every local Church, the universal Church, as a reflection of the mystery of God's unity. This unity also stimulates the community spirit in society, in the nation, in the world community.

5. "Let them be one, as we are"! The unity inherited from Christ finds its first realisation in marriage and in the family, in that Church which is the home.

Such is the Creator's design from the beginning: 'Man shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh' (Gen 2:24). Such is likewise the destiny of men and women redeemed by Jesus Christ: the sacramental union of spouses becomes the sign of Christ's total love for his Church, of his indissoluble union with it. "This mystery is great" (cf. Eph 5:32). This mutual gift of spouses for life will be inspired by a human love that is total, faithful, exclusive and open to new life (cf. Humanae vitae, 9). Christian spouses will always take it to heart to meditate on God's plan for marriage and the family and to correspond to what God expects of them in their interpersonal relationships, in the transmission of life, in conjugal chastity, in the education of their children, and in their participation in the development of society according to the doctrine of the Church, which I reminded them of in the apostolic exhortation Familiaris consortio, echoing what the bishops of the whole world had expressed in the 1980 Synod.

I am therefore happy to address myself especially to you, dear spouses and parents who have come to this Eucharist as a family. You know, both through the teaching of the Church and from your own experience, all that is required by the daily renewal of your conjugal and parental love. It acquires, in feelings and actions, a concrete face every day, in which the flesh is the support and expression of unity in the spirit; it presupposes in particular a sensitive attention to the other, an attitude of gratitude for what he is and what he brings to you, a willingness to let what is best in you blossom in him, sharing joys and trials by ceaselessly banishing selfishness and pride, taking time for a sincere dialogue on all that is dear to you, sharing the daily "bread", and, if necessary, forgiveness, as we ask in the "Our Father". In these conditions, your love fills you with joy and shines in your home and beyond.

Above all, never forget that your unity, your fidelity, the splendour of your love are graces that come from God, from the bosom of the Trinity. The sacrament of marriage enables you to draw on it constantly. But it is necessary that you often ask God, who is love, to help you dwell in love (cf. 1 John 4:16). What strength, what testimony, when you have the simplicity to pray as a family, parents and children! Together, before the Father, before the Saviour, your whole life can regain brightness and joy. Then, truly, the family deserves its name of domestic Church.

6. "Father, keep them in your name"! This prayer of Jesus for the disciples, is it not that of parents for their children?

Your deep love between spouses, "in truth", and your common love for your children constitute for them the first book in which they read the love of God.

This reading remains forever inscribed in the memory of their hearts and disposes them to accept, freely, the revelation of God's tenderness. Of course, in our day, family solidarity is not always an easy task. The children whom you have called to life and to whom you have given the best of yourselves, influenced by a society that has its values and its dis-values, sometimes choose other paths, hopefully for a short time. They are, for you, moments of suffering but also of deep devotion. With you, I pray as Jesus did: "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one" (Jn 17:15).

Christian families remain a privileged space for the transmission of the Gospel, not only to their children, but to their neighbours, to the whole Church community. They can offer a hospitable home to those with worries, to children who do not receive enough love at home, to young people who wish to deepen their faith in preparation for confirmation or marriage. In Christian families, young people also learn through the example of their parents to be committed to others, both in the parish and in other places.

Dear parents, the way in which Peter proposes, in the first reading of this service, to choose a new "witness to the resurrection of Jesus", a new apostle (Acts 1:22) has perhaps struck you. This choice was prepared by prayer: "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show us which of these two you have appointed" (Acts 1:24).

The Lord knows the hearts of the young people of this time. He also knows their generosity, sometimes held back by adults. You also know the hearts of your children. Pray that they may discover their vocation and be thankful if they choose the way of the Gospel!

And you, dear children, the most beautiful thing you can ask of your parents is what the apostles asked of Jesus: "Teach us to pray". On the other hand, be happy if your parents do much for others, even if their commitment deprives you, some evenings, of their presence at home. You yourselves always try to be more fraternal among yourselves, in the family. And try to already make your life a service for others. This word of Jesus is also for you: "As the Father sent me into the world, I also sent you into the world".

7. "Quils soient un comme nous sommes un" (Io. 17, 11).Au-delà de la famille, cette prière de Jésus vaut pour toutes les communautés de ses disciples, partout où elles se réalisent, pour vos communautés paroissiales, pour vos mouvements chrétiens largement représentés ici. Puisse-t-on y trouver toujours l'unité héritée du Christ! La fidélité à sa Vérité! L'accueil fraternel et le soutien effectif des membres qui sont dans le besoin, étrangers ou malades.

Je salue ici avec une particulière affection les malades et les handicapés, spécialement ceux qui participaient hier aux "Spartakiades".

Chers Frères et Sœurs,

pour vous - comme pour vos familles et pour tous ceux qui n'ont pas pu être présents ici à cause de l'âge ou de la maladie -, je demande à Dieu, non seulement de vous garder en son Nom, mais de faire de vous, en ce monde, partout où vous conduisent vos relations et votre travail professionnel, les témoins de sa Vérité, de son amour. Pour donner un témoignage direct sur le Christ Sauveur, sur sa Bonne Nouvelle, de façon à faciliter à vos contemporains l'accès à la foi. Et pour contribuer, avec eux, à mettre votre société sur les chemins de la paix, de la justice, de la fidélité, de la fraternité, qui correspondent au Règne de Dieu.

7. "That they may be one, as we are one" (Jn 17:11). Beyond the family, this prayer of Jesus applies to all the communities of his disciples, wherever they are made, to your parish communities, to your Christian movements widely represented here. Vi si possa sempre trovare l'unità ereditata da Cristo! Fidelity to his truth! The fraternal welcome and effective support of people who are in need, foreigners or sick. I greet here with particular affection the sick and handicapped, especially those who participated yesterday in the "Spartakiadi".

Dear brothers and sisters, for you - as for your families and for all those who have been unable to be here because of age or illness - I ask God, not only to keep you in his name, but also to make you, in this world, wherever your social relationships and your professional work take you, Witnesses of his truth, of his love, to bear direct witness to Christ the Saviour, to his good news, so as to facilitate your contemporaries' access to the faith and to help, with them, to set your society on the paths of peace, justice, piety, fraternity, which correspond to the kingdom of God.

8. L'unité héritée des Apôtres, c'est celle de l'Eglise universelle, confiée aux évêques en communion étroite avec le successeur de Pierre. Elle est présente en chacune des Eglises locales, à commencer par la vénérable Eglise qui est à Malines-Bruxelles, Mechelen-Brussel, celle qui est à Antwerpen, à Brugge, à Gent, à Liège, à Namur, que je suis heureux de visiter aussi.

I would particularly like to greet the faithful who have come from the dioceses of Tournai and Hasselt. Le temps nécessairement limité de mon séjour dans votre pays ne me permet pas de vous rencontrer dans vos diocèses mêmes. Mais je vous remercie d'être venus ici en grand nombre pour me rencontrer.

Chers chrétiens du diocèse de Tournai, vous appartenez à un diocèse d'une tradition très riche. Aujourd'hui, vous essayez d'être des témoins fidèles de l'Evangile dans une période difficile. Vous vivez dans une des provinces belges les plus touchées par la crise économique. Comme chrétiens pratiquants, vous êtes souvent une minorité au milieu de beaucoup d'autres personnes que vous aimez et que vous voulez servir. Dans cette situation, je vous encourage à garder la paix et la joie. Car, comme le dit la devise de votre évêque, "la joie du Seigneur, c'est notre force".

8. The unity inherited from the apostles is that of the universal Church, entrusted to the bishops in close communion with the successor of Peter. It is present in Bruges, in Ghent, in Liège, in Namur, which I am happy to visit.

I greet in a special way the faithful who have come from the dioceses of Tournai and Hasselt. The necessarily limited time of my stay in your country does not allow me to meet with you in your dioceses. I thank you, however, for coming here in great numbers to meet with me.

Dear Christians of the Diocese of Tournai, you belong to a diocese with a very rich tradition. Today you are trying to be faithful witnesses of the Gospel in a difficult time. You live in one of the provinces of Belgium most affected by the economic crisis. As practising Christians, you are often a minority among many others whom you love and wish to serve. In this situation, I encourage you to preserve peace and joy, for, as your bishop's motto says, 'the joy of the Lord is our strength'.

Dear Christians of the Diocese of Hasselt, you seek to deepen the faith in your community by means of many pastoral initiatives. There are many young people in your diocese. Thanks to the training received in their movements and spirituality groups, they try to be witnesses of the Gospel wherever they live. Show solidarity in the economic crisis that is hitting you so hard. Continue to develop dialogue between the cultures of natives and immigrants in your diocese. And may the Blessed Virgin, "the reason for our joy", venerated at Tongres, the oldest place of Marian veneration in northern Europe, be for each of you a source of continuous joy!

Yes, in the name of Jesus, I repeat his priestly prayer for each of your Churches, for its bishop, the pastor whose task it is to gather it together in unity, to watch over it as Jesus did over his disciples, to preserve it in fidelity to the name of the Lord, in fidelity to the apostolic tradition, in union with the Apostolic See of Rome, to make it move forward in the love that comes from God.

9. In this place, which is the capital of the country, how can we not think of the Belgian nation as a whole? This land in which you live has had a turbulent history; it has had to struggle to preserve its cultural, economic, administrative, political and even religious personality. The rich personality of this nation and its availability have often been a source of cultural, artistic and economic exchanges with all the countries around it. Do not lose your rich personality, your communion in peace, mutual esteem and dialogue between the different Belgian and foreign communities. Be aware: the things that unite you are more than those that divide you. Cultivate this model of coexistence that can be an example to the world. Found it on love, on respect for the institutions of the nation, its governments and king, in fidelity to the Christian civilisation that has marked you so much.

10. Zusammen mit dem Nachfolger des heiligen Petrus betet die Kirche dieses Landes heute mit den Worten des Psalms:

"Lobe den Herrn meine Seele und alles in mir seinen heiligen Namen!" (Ps. 103:1).

Der Name Gottes ist uns in seiner Fülle durch Jesus Christus offenbart worden. Er ist "unser Vater": Gott, der die Liebe ist, der uns zuerst geliebt hat, der am Anfang wie am Ziel unseres Lebens steht, der uns auf dem Weg ständig begleitet, auch dort, wo das Leben hart mit uns umgeht, auch dann, wenn wir nicht nach dem Maß seiner Liebe gelebt haben; Gott, der uns an seinem göttlichen Leben teilhaben läßt, der uns mit der Freude Christi erfüllt, seines vielgeliebten Sohnes (Cf. I. 17, 13).

Ja, "Vater unser im Himmel, geheiligt werde dein Name, dein Reich komme, dein Wille geschehe . . .!".

Das Gebet, das uns Jesus Christus selbst gelehrt hat, ist tief im Hohenpriesterlichen Gebet des Abendmahlssaales verwurzelt.

"Lobe den Herrn meine Seele, und vergiß nicht, was er dir Guten getan hat" (Ps. 103, 27).

Vergiß es nicht!

Liebe Mitchristen deutscher Sprache, vergeßt nicht das Erbe so vieler Generationen des Bundes mit Gott in der Kirche Christi, vergeßt es nicht!

Chers chrétiens d'expression française, n'oubliez pas l'héritage de tant de générations de l'Alliance avec Dieu dans l'Eglise du Christ, n'oubliez pas!

10. Today, the Church in this country prays together with the successor of Peter in the words of the psalm: "Bless the Lord, my soul, what is in me bless his holy name" (Ps 103:1). The name of God has been revealed to us in the fullness of Jesus Christ: it is "Our Father": God who is love, who was the first to love us, who is at the origin of our life, at its horizon, is continually on the way with us, even if life hurts us, even if we have not lived up to his love; God who makes us share in his divine life, who makes us have the fullness of the joy of Christ, his beloved Son (cf. Jn 17:13).

Yes, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done . . .! The prayer that Jesus Christ taught us is deeply rooted in the priestly prayer of the Upper Room. "Bless the Lord, my soul, do not forget so many of his benefits" (Ps 103:2). Do not forget!

Dear German-speaking Christians, do not forget the heritage of so many generations of God's covenant with the Church of Christ!

Dear Flemish-speaking Christians, do not forget the heritage of so many generations of the covenant with God in the Church of Christ!

Dear French-speaking Christians, do not forget the heritage of so many generations of the covenant with God in the Church of Christ, do not forget!

[Pope John Paul II, homily in Brussels 19 May 1985]

In recent catecheses, we have tried to highlight the nature and the beauty of the Church and we have asked ourselves what it means for each of us to belong to this people, the People of God, which is the Church. We must not forget, however, that there are so many brothers and sisters who share with us the faith in Christ, but who belong to other confessions or to traditions different from ours. Many have resigned themselves to this division — even within our Catholic Church many are resigned — which, in the course of history, has often been the cause of conflict and of suffering, also of war and this is a disgrace! Today too, relations are not always characterized by respect and courtesy.... But, I wonder: we, how do we feel about all this? Are we too, resigned, if not actually indifferent, to this division? Or do we firmly believe that one can and must walk in the direction of reconciliation and of full communion? Full communion, that is, for everyone to be able to partake together in the Body and Blood of Christ.

Divisions among Christians, while they wound the Church, wound Christ; and divided, we cause a wound to Christ: the Church is indeed the body of which Christ is the Head. We know well how much Jesus had at heart that his disciples should remain united in his love. It suffices to consider his words, written in the 17th Chapter of the Gospel according to John, in Jesus’ prayer to the Father when his passion was imminent: “Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (Jn 17:11). This unity was already threatened while Jesus was still among them: in the Gospel, in fact, it is recorded that the Apostles argued among themselves about who was the greatest, the most important (cf. Lk 9:46). The Lord, however, emphatically insisted on unity in the name of the Father, allowing us to understand how much more credible our proclamation and our witness will be if we are first able to live in communion and to love each other. That is what his Apostles, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, would then deeply understand and take to heart, so much so that St Paul would reach the point of imploring the community of Corinth with these words: “I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor 1:10).

During her journey in history, the Church has been tempted by the Evil One, who seeks to divide her, and unfortunately it has been marked by deep and painful schisms. They are divisions that at times, have been long and drawn out in time, up until today, which is why it is now difficult to reconstruct all the motivations and especially to find possible solutions. The reasons which have led to the fractures and schisms may be the most diverse: from disagreement on dogmatic and moral principles and on theological concepts and pastoral differences, to political motives and convenience, to disputes caused by dislikes and personal ambition.... What is certain is that, in one way or another, arrogance and selfishness have always been behind these lacerations, rendering us intolerant, incapable of listening and accepting one with a vision or a position different from ours.

Now, faced by all of this, is there something that every one of us, as members of the Holy Mother Church, can and must do? Certainly, there must never be a shortage of prayer, in continuity and in communion with that of Jesus, prayer for the unity of Christians. And together with prayer, the Lord asks us for renewed openness: He asks us not to be closed to dialogue and to encounter, but to welcome all that is valid and positive which is offered even by someone who thinks differently from us or who takes a different stand. He asks us not to fix our gaze on what divides us, but rather on what unites us, seeking to know and love Jesus better and to share the richness of his love. And this means a concrete adherence to the Truth, together with the capacity for reciprocal forgiveness, to feel a part of the same Christian family, to consider oneself a gift for the other and together to do many good things and works of charity.

It is grievous but there are divisions, there are many divided Christians, we have split amongst ourselves. But we all have something in common: we all believe in Jesus Christ, the Lord. We all believe in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, and we all walk together, we are on the journey. Let us help one another! You think this way, you think that way.... In all communities there are good theologians: let them debate, let them seek theological truth because it is a duty, but let us walk together, praying for one another and doing works of charity. And like this, we are in communion on the journey. This is called spiritual ecumenism: to journey on the path of life, everyone together in our faith, in Jesus Christ the Lord. They say that one should not talk about personal things, but I cannot resist the temptation. We are speaking about communion... communion among us. And today, I am so thankful to the Lord because 70 years ago today, I made my First Communion. To make our First Communion we must know what it means to enter into communion with others, in communion with the brothers and sisters of our Church, but also in communion with those who belong to different communities but who believe in Jesus. Let us thank the Lord for our Baptism, let us thank the Lord for our communion, in order that this communion become joint communion with everyone, together.

Dear friends, let us therefore proceed toward full unity! History has separated us, but we are on the path toward reconciliation and communion! And this is true! And we must defend it! We are all on the path toward communion. And when the goal seems too distant, almost unreachable, and we feel gripped by despair, let us be comforted by the idea that God cannot close his ears to the voice of his Son Jesus or fail to grant his and our prayer: that all Christians may truly be one.

[Pope Francis, General Audience 8 October 2014]

6th Easter Sunday (year A)  [10 May 2026] 

First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (8:5–8, 14–17)

Let me return to the first sentence: ‘Philip, one of the Seven’, that is, one of the seven men appointed to organise the distribution of food in Jerusalem. In practical terms, the issue was ensuring a fair distribution of what amounted to a food bank for widows. Last Sunday we saw that a problem had arisen among the very first Christians. After Jesus’ Resurrection, all those who followed the apostles and asked for baptism were Jews, either by birth or converts to Judaism (those known as proselytes). But there were already great differences amongst them. Among these Jews, some were originally from Israel, and in particular from Jerusalem, and spoke Hebrew in the synagogue and Aramaic on the street: they were called Jews. The others were from the Diaspora, that is, the rest of the Roman Empire: they spoke Greek and were called Hellenists. For the celebration of the Sabbath, all Jews, whether they had become Christians or not, would go to the synagogues: Jews on one side, Hellenists on the other. But for Christian celebrations, the Jews who had become Christians would gather in private homes, Hellenists and Jews together. It was in the context of these Christian celebrations that a first dispute broke out between these two groups of Christians, concerning the aid given to widows. And, to resolve it, seven men were appointed to be in charge of the distribution of food (today we might say ‘material matters’). That was last Sunday’s reading. Among these seven men, Stephen and Philip—both Jews who had recently become Christians—were ardent, fervent Hellenists and were likely recognised as leaders; they sought to convert to Jesus Christ the Jews who attended the synagogues where Greek was spoken, and it was there that a second dispute arose. Not a dispute between Christians of different origins, but a far more serious one between Hellenistic Jews (that is, Jews of the Diaspora): a dispute pitting those who believe in Jesus of Nazareth, the unrecognised Messiah, crucified and risen, against those who continue to think that Jesus was nothing but an impostor. And that is where the first persecution begins: the Jews who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ attack their Jewish brothers who have become Christians. Stephen is martyred: denounced by Hellenistic Jews to the authorities in Jerusalem, he is arrested and executed. Stephen’s martyrdom does not quell the fury of his opponents; on the contrary, they will turn their wrath upon the other Christians in Stephen’s group. This very first persecution does not target Jesus’s direct apostles—Peter, John, James and the others who are part of the Jewish group; it targets only the Hellenists. Thus, Jesus’ apostles were not disturbed and remained in Jerusalem, continuing to practise the Jewish religion whilst preaching in the name of Jesus. Instead, out of prudence, the Hellenist group dispersed: those most at risk moved away, but naturally, wherever they went, they spoke of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. And so, thanks to the persecution, the Good News spreads beyond Jerusalem and reaches the other cities of Judea and Samaria. Later, people will recall Jesus’ final words on the day of the Ascension: ‘You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). This is exactly what is happening: paradoxically, it is this trial—the persecution and scattering of the community—that allows evangelisation to gain ground. This is why Philip went down to Samaria, and instead of hiding, he began to preach, quickly going beyond the mission entrusted to him. At first, Philip was chosen to be one of the Seven charged with the service of the widows’ tables in Jerusalem, and we find him preaching in Samaria. At the same time, he remains visibly in contact with those who entrusted him with his mission, for the Jerusalem community sends Peter and John to him, who will in a sense authenticate the work accomplished by Philip. This takes place in Samaria, and we know just how much the people of Jerusalem despised the Samaritans: they regarded them as heretics; for centuries, Jews and Samaritans had carefully nurtured their quarrels and mutual contempt. Philip is not troubled by these old quarrels: he, the man of the Diaspora, is undoubtedly far removed from these theological disputes and, in any case, thanks to him, the Gospel has just crossed the boundaries of the synagogue. Instead, he emphasises the joy of the Samaritans in receiving the Good News 

Responsorial Psalm (65/66) 

We have heard only a few verses of the twenty that make up Psalm 65/66, yet the long journey of the faithful is summarised here in three stages. The first is suggested in verse 6 with the reference to the Exodus, the departure from Egypt with Moses: “He turned the sea into dry land”, then the entry into the Promised Land under the guidance of Joshua, with the miracle of the drying up of the Jordan: “They crossed the river on dry ground”. When one reads the Psalms carefully, one is struck by the abundance of echoes of the Exodus, which is the foundation of Israel’s faith experience and thus of its hope. In the second stage, the psalmist invites his contemporaries to prayer, praise and the sharing of the faith experience: “Come, listen, all you who fear God; I will tell you what he has done for my soul” . Third stage: the whole earth is invited to join in the praise of God: “Praise God, all the earth; celebrate the glory of his name, glorify him by singing his praises. Say to God: How awesome are your works!” It is not the first time that Israel’s prayer has expanded to encompass the whole earth, that is, all humanity. The chosen people have come to understand over time that their mission is to bring all peoples into the joy of God. Isaiah says: “My house shall be called a ‘House of prayer for all peoples’” (Is 56:7). In the psalm, one already senses a kind of anticipation of that day, as if all peoples were already part of the procession of pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem: ‘The whole earth bows down before you, sings to you, sings to your name.’ This psalm looks at once to the past, the present and the future... In the past, God freed his people from slavery in Egypt. Today, he liberates at every moment those who allow him to act; in the future, all humanity will be definitively freed from the chains that currently bind it in fear and war. This psalm thus introduces us to what the historical dimension of the faith experience represents for the Jewish people. And, as always in the biblical world, the collective dimension takes precedence over the individual experience. From the earliest age, the Jewish child shares in the memory of his people: daily prayers, the Sabbath, festivals and pilgrimages evoke a collective memory into which the child is gradually immersed; he hears adults singing the glory of God and recounting His mighty deeds countless times, and one day, in turn, quite naturally, he too will take up the baton. They hear their elders say: “Blessed be God who has not rejected my prayer, nor turned his love away from me.” They will remember the deeds of God who freed their ancestors from slavery in Egypt: He turned the sea into dry land, and they crossed the river on dry ground. The adults’ day, from morning prayer to evening prayer, passing through meals and all the acts of daily life, is steeped in this memory of the God who frees from all bondage. The Jewish child enters quite naturally into the ‘memory’ of his people, but all this presupposes family life and a strong sense of belonging to a people.  Here, perhaps, lies one of the keys to our problems in passing on the faith: it is precisely this collective memory that is lacking in many of our young Christians. The memory of a people is not a matter for religious education classes, however excellent they may be, but a matter of community life, of repeated rituals, of slow assimilation; and we can clearly see how grave the dangers of individualism are. At the same time, we know what remains for us to do if we wish to pass on the faith to the new generations: it is urgent that we return to imbuing the whole of family life with this faith-filled memory and give renewed vigour to our Christian communities.

Second Reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter the Apostle (3:15–18)

Reading between the lines of this text, one can imagine that Peter’s listeners were suffering harassment and ridicule at the hands of the pagans; not overt persecution, but latent hostility, and they had to explain time and again why they rejected certain pagan practices, such as sacrifices to pagan deities. Peter tells them: ‘Brothers, it is now your turn to behave as Christ behaved. He too faced accusations, slander and threats, yet he did not waver; now it is your turn, and you must be able to stand firm against your adversaries.

Where will this steadfast courage come from? Christians have but one source, one argument, one message: Christ died and rose again. Peter says nothing else: “Worship the Lord, Christ, in your hearts… For Christ too died once and for all for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you back to God; put to death in the body, but made alive in the spirit”. The body, the flesh, in biblical language, signify human weakness, the fact of being mortal. It is difficult for enemies to understand that Jesus died and rose again. Christians explained that, because he was filled with the Spirit of God, death could not hold him in its power, and the Spirit enabled him to pass through biological death and brought life to him—the gift of the Spirit of life which had been manifested upon him on the day of Jesus’ Baptism. This same Spirit, who entered us through Baptism, enables us to overcome evil, hatred and sadness, and this is our hope—the hope of which Peter says we must give an account at all times. Christ had said to the Apostles: “Take heart; I have overcome the world.” The witness the world expects from us is that evil is not inevitable, and for this reason we must never give up in the face of evil, hatred and violence. Christ suffered for our sins once and for all, and the expression ‘once and for all’ is a cry of victory: the world of evil and sin is definitively conquered through the obedience of the Son. Peter strongly links the two aspects of Christian witness: prayer is what takes place in the secret of the heart, and then there is the public courage of witness; the first cannot exist without the other. “Worship the holiness of Christ in your hearts” is what takes place in the secret of prayer, from which we shall draw the boldness needed to proclaim our hope through our lives: “Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give an account of the hope that is within you.” Peter advises us not to speak first, but to be ready to answer the questions of those who ask. This phrase comes to mind: “Do not speak unless you are asked, but live in such a way that they ask you.” If life becomes a true witness to hope, those who meet you will wonder where such indestructible hope comes from. It is therefore not possible to bear witness to Jesus unless we live this hope, which means that witness is given first and foremost through deeds and not through words. Jesus says: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Mt 5:16). Saint Paul VI noted that our contemporaries seek witnesses, not teachers… and they listen to teachers only if they are witnesses. A witness given with “gentleness and respect”, Pietro emphasises, which must never desert us so that “those who slander our good conduct in Christ may be put to shame”. 

From the Gospel according to John (14:15–21)

On the evening of Holy Thursday, after the washing of the feet, Jesus speaks at length with his disciples for the last time. He speaks of the Father and of the relationship that unites him, the Son, to the Father, but he also speaks of the bond that now unites the apostles to his Father and to him. A bond that nothing and no one can destroy: “I am in my Father, you are in me and I am in you… Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father”.

And as he prepares to leave them, he announces the coming of the Spirit. The apostles recalled the prophecies of Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezek 36:26) and “I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel” (Ezek 39:29). With Joel, the promise of the gift of the Spirit had become universal: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 3:1). When Jesus says, “The Spirit of truth remains with you, and will be in you”, he announces that the great day of the definitive Covenant has arrived. These words of his evoke Israel’s long wait, for the aspiration of all Old Testament believers was the presence of God in the midst of his people. There had been the Tabernacle during the Exodus, then the Temple in Jerusalem, but they awaited the New Covenant in which God would dwell not in buildings, but in the hearts of his people, intimately present in every believing heart. God had promised this through the mouth of Ezekiel, for example: ‘My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people’ (Ezek 37:27) and Zechariah: ‘Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; behold, I am coming to dwell among you’ (Zech 2:14). The apostles were imbued with this hope: they knew that the definitive Covenant promised in the Old Testament was intended for all humanity, and during his public life, Jesus had repeatedly expressed the desire that the whole world might be saved. But why does he say that the world is incapable of receiving the Spirit of truth, and why does he say this at this very decisive moment of salvation? It is certainly not a value judgement, but an observation: The world cannot receive him, because it neither sees nor knows him. But Jesus continues: you, however, know him, because he dwells with you and will be in you. This is a sending forth on mission, for it is as if he were saying: “The world does not know the Spirit of truth… It is up to you to make him known; it is up to you to help people discover the active presence of the Spirit in every human reality”. Jesus wants to strengthen his disciples: to help them believe that the contagion of love will gradually prevail and that it is possible to transform the spirit of the world into the spirit of love. In a way, the mission he entrusts to his disciples is evangelisation by contagion, from person to person. This will be possible because Jesus assures them: “I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to remain with you forever”. In Greek, “parakletos” refers to one who is called to stand by an accused person to assist them: he is the comforter, the intercessor, the counsellor, the advocate, the defender. An advocate for a trial, but what trial are we talking about? The one in which the world acts against Christ’s disciples, and through them, against the Father himself and against Christ. Ultimately, it is the trial of “Truth”. Hence Jesus’ insistence on the word “truth” whenever he warns his disciples of the persecutions that await them: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning” (Jn 15:26–27).

+Giovanni D’Ercole

5th Easter Sunday (year A)  [3 May 2026]

First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (6:1-7)

Paradoxically, the problem facing the early Christian community arose from its very success. In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the Greek-speaking believers began to grumble against the Hebrew-speaking ones (Acts 6:1). The numbers were growing so rapidly that maintaining unity became difficult. Every expanding group faces the same question: how to remain united when numbers grow? Numerous, and therefore diverse. In truth, the seeds of this difficulty were already present on the morning of Pentecost. In Jerusalem lived devout Jews from every nation under heaven (cf. Acts 2:5). On that day there were three thousand conversions, and others followed in the months and years that followed. All were Jews, for the question of non-Jews arose only later, but many were Jews who had come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage from all over the Empire. These were the Jews of the Diaspora known as Hellenists: their mother tongue was neither Hebrew nor Aramaic, but Greek, which was then the common language throughout the Mediterranean. Thus, the young community immediately found itself facing the ‘challenge of languages’. And we know that the language barrier is much more than a mere difficulty of translation: a different mother tongue means different cultures, customs, and ways of understanding life and solving problems. If language is a net cast over the reality of things, a different language is another net, and the meshes rarely coincide. The practical problem that arose in Jerusalem was the care of widows. Looking after them was a rule of the Jewish world and the community did so willingly, but those managing the service, recruited from the majority Hebrew-speaking group, tended to favour the widows of their own group, whilst the Greek-speaking widows were neglected. These complaints could only grow more bitter, until they reached the ears of the apostles. Their reaction can be summarised in three points. First: they summoned the entire assembly of disciples because every decision is taken in plenary session, given that the Church functions synodally: Why then has this been lost? Second: they recalled the objective. It is a matter of remaining faithful to three demands of apostolic life: prayer, the ministry of the Word and the service of the brothers and sisters. Third: they are not afraid to propose a new organisation. Innovation is not unfaithfulness; on the contrary: faithfulness demands the ability to adapt to new circumstances. Being faithful does not mean remaining fixated on the past, for example by entrusting all tasks to the Twelve simply because they were chosen by Jesus. Being faithful means keeping one’s eyes fixed on the goal, and the goal, as the evangelist John writes, is ‘that they may be one so that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21). Accepting diversity is the challenge facing every growing community, and when conflicts arise, splitting up is not the best solution; this is why the apostles do not consider dividing the community in two, with Greeks on one side and Jews on the other. The Holy Spirit has brought about numerous and diverse conversions and now inspires the apostles to organise themselves differently to deal with the consequences. The Twelve therefore decide to appoint men capable of taking on the task of serving at the tables, since that is where the problem arises: “Brothers, choose seven of you, men respected by all, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and we will entrust this task to them. We, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word’. The seven chosen all bear Greek names: they were therefore almost certainly part of the group of Greek-speaking Christians, from whom the complaints had come. Thus a new institution is born: these servants of the community do not yet have a title, and the text does not use the word ‘deacon’. Although we must not be too quick to identify these men with today’s deacons, one thing remains clear: in every age, the Spirit inspires innovations that are indispensable for faithfully fulfilling the Church’s various missions and priorities. 

Responsorial Psalm (32/33)

I shall begin where the reading of this psalm ends, for there lies a key to understanding the whole. I return to the penultimate verse, verse 18: “The Lord’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his love.” Here we discover a beautiful definition of “fear of God”: to fear the Lord is simply to place our hope in his love. The believer, in the biblical sense, is a person full of hope; and if they are so, whatever happens, it is because they know that ‘the earth is full of his love’, as verse 5, which we have just heard, says. Knowing that the Lord’s loving gaze is always upon us is the source of our hope. I should point out that, in the Hebrew text, the name ‘Lord’ is the one revealed to Moses in the burning bush: the four-letter name YHWH which, out of respect, Jews never pronounce, and which means something like ‘I am, I will be with you, from everlasting to everlasting, in every moment of your history’. This name reminds Israel of the care with which God surrounded his people throughout the Exodus. If we translate it as ‘God watches over’, this vigilance is well conveyed. Thus we understand the following verse: ‘to deliver him from death and sustain him in times of famine’ (v. 19). These are allusions to the exodus from Egypt: by leading the people across the sea on dry ground behind Moses, the Lord saved the people from the certain death decreed by the Pharaoh; then, by sending manna from heaven in the desert, he truly nourished his people in times of famine. Then praise flows spontaneously from the heart of those who have experienced God’s care: “Rejoice, O righteous ones, in the Lord; for the upright, praise is beautiful” (v. 1). The expression “the upright” may surprise us, yet it is common in the Bible. One is considered upright/righteous who enters into God’s plan, who is united with God like a well-tuned musical instrument. This is said of Abraham: Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). He had faith, that is, he trusted in God and in his plan. Therefore, we could translate “righteous men”, in Hebrew hassidim, as “the men of the Covenant”, or “the men of God’s merciful plan”: those who have accepted the revelation of God’s benevolence and respond to it by adhering to the Covenant. These titles, “righteous men” and “upright men”, do not denote moral qualities, for the hassid is a man like any other, a sinner like any other, but he lives within the Lord’s Covenant; he lives in trust in the faithful God. And since he has discovered the God of tenderness and faithfulness, quite logically he lives in praise: “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous; praise is fitting for the upright.” This call to praise was the entrance hymn of a liturgy of thanksgiving. We note in passing an indication of how the psalms were performed and of at least one of the instruments used in the Temple of Jerusalem: this psalm was probably intended to be accompanied by a ten-stringed harp. Singing a new song to the Lord does not mean a song never heard before, but a new song in the sense that words of love, even the most familiar ones, are always new. When lovers say ‘I love you’, they are not afraid to repeat the same words, and yet the wonder is that that song is always new. One more note: “The word of the Lord is upright, and all his works are trustworthy” (v. 4). Contrary to appearances, these are not two separate statements, one concerning the word of God and the other concerning his works, because in the Bible the Word of God is already an act in progress: “God said, and it was done,” repeats the account of creation in the first book of Genesis. It is no coincidence that this psalm has twenty-two verses, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet: it is a tribute to the Word of God, as if to say that it is the whole of our life, from A to Z. And it is no empty compliment, for Israel recognises that from God’s first word to his people, Israel has simultaneously experienced how the promised Word of liberation is, at the same time, already God’s liberating intervention: in every age, the Word of God calls to freedom, and is at the same time a divine force acting within humanity to secure freedom from all idolatry and all slavery. Finally: “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the Lord’s love” (v. 5). Here the vocation of the whole of creation is described: God is love, and the earth is called to be a place of love, righteousness and justice. Remember the prophet Micah: ‘O man, it has been taught to you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God’ (Mic 6:8).

Second Reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter the Apostle (2:4–9)

In Hebrew, the same verb is used to mean ‘to build a house’, ‘to found a family’ and ‘to found a society’. For this reason, even in the Old Testament, the prophets readily used the language of building to speak of human society. Isaiah, for example, devised a parable: he compared the kingdom of Jerusalem to a building site (Isaiah 28:16–17). On that site there was a remarkable block of stone that was meant to become the cornerstone of the building, but the architects scorned that block and preferred to use stones of poor quality. This was a way of accusing the authorities of abandoning true values to build society on false ones. Over time, it became customary to apply the term ‘cornerstone’ to the Messiah: he would be able to take over and restore God’s building site. Peter, in turn, develops this comparison to speak of Christ. Jesus, the Messiah, is truly the most precious stone that God has placed at the centre of the building; and all people are called upon to become stones in this spiritual edifice. Those who agree to become one with him are integrated into the structure, becoming supporting elements themselves. But of course this is a choice to be made, and people may also choose the opposite path, that is, to reject the project and even sabotage it. Then everything happens for them as if the keystone were not at the heart of the building: it has remained on the ground, an admirable block but a hindrance on the building site. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone, a stumbling block and a stone of offence (cf. 1 Pet 2:7–8). Our Baptism was the moment of choice. Since then, we have been integrated into the building of what Peter calls the spiritual temple, as opposed to the stone temple in Jerusalem where animal sacrifices were offered. From the beginning of history, humanity has sought to reach God by worshipping him in the way it believes is worthy of him. Along its journey, the chosen people discovered the true face of God and learnt to live within his Covenant. Little by little, in the light of the prophets’ teaching, it was discovered that the true temple of God is humanity itself, and that the only worship worthy of him is love and service to our brothers and sisters, and no longer animal sacrifices. But this places a tremendous responsibility upon us: the temple in Jerusalem was the sign of God’s presence among his people. Now, the sign of God’s presence visible to the world is us, the Church of Christ. Peter’s words then resound as a vocation: “Like living stones, you too are being built into a spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:5). Peter distinguishes between those who entrust themselves to Christ and those who reject him. ‘Believing’ and ‘rejecting’ are two acts of free will, and those who do not accept Christ, Peter affirms, stumble because they do not obey the Word. This was their destiny (cf. v. 5); this phrase speaks only of the consequence of their free choice, not of predestination by God’s arbitrary decision: the liberating God can only respect our freedom. At the presentation of Jesus in the temple, Simeon had announced to Joseph and Mary: ‘He is here for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel’ (cf. Lk 2:34). Simeon does not speak of a necessity willed by God, but of the consequences of Jesus’ coming. In fact, his presence was for some an occasion of total conversion, whilst others hardened their hearts. Peter concludes: ‘ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood” (1 Pet 2:9). On the day of our Baptism, grafted into Christ, we became members of Christ, the one true “priest, prophet and king”. United with him, we have become part of his holy people; we have acquired a new citizenship, that of the people of God, and our national anthem is now the Alleluia. Peter concludes by telling us that we are charged with proclaiming the marvellous works of the One who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.

From the Gospel according to John (14:1–12)

If Jesus begins by saying, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’ (Jn 14:1), it is because the disciples were not hiding their anguish, and one can understand why. They knew they were surrounded by general hostility and sensed that the countdown had begun. This anguish was compounded, at least for some of them, by a terrible disappointment: “We had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel” (from the Romans), the disciples of Emmaus would say (cf. Lk 24:21). The apostles shared this political hope; now their leader is about to be condemned and executed, and their illusions are coming to an end. Jesus sets about redirecting their hope: he will not fulfil the expectations his miracles have raised; he will not lead the national uprising against the occupier; on the contrary, he will not cease to preach non-violence. The liberation he has come to bring lies on another plane: he does not wish to fulfil his people’s earthly and political expectation of the Messiah, but to make them understand that he is the one who has always been awaited. He begins by appealing to their faith, that is, to that fundamental attitude of the Jewish people which we read of in all the psalms, for hope can rest firmly only on faith. This is why Jesus returns repeatedly to these words: ‘believe’, ‘let not your hearts be troubled (for) you believe in God’. Yet it is one thing to believe in God—and this is a given—and quite another to believe in Jesus, precisely at the moment when he seems to have definitively lost the battle. For his contemporaries, to accord Jesus the same faith as God required a tremendous leap, and Jesus seeks to help them perceive the profound unity existing between the Father and himself. Here we have the second key theme of this text: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (a phrase he repeats twice). And then: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”, and this last phrase resonates in a very special way in the light of what will happen a few hours later, for the revelation of the Father reaches its climax when Jesus dies on the cross. As he dies, Jesus continues to love mankind, all mankind, and even forgives his executioners. It would be necessary to dwell on every sentence of this final conversation between Jesus and his disciples, indeed on each of the words laden with the whole of biblical experience: to know, to see, to abide, to go towards. Every word is at the same time an event, a ‘work’. When he says: ‘I am’, to Jewish ears this clearly evokes God himself, and he dares to say: “I am the way, the truth and the life”, identifying himself with God himself. And at the same time, the Father and he are two distinct persons, for Jesus says: “I am the way” (implied: to the Father). No one comes to the Father except through me. Another way of saying “I am the way” or “I am the gate”, as in the discourse on the Good Shepherd. And when we are united with him, the divine plan of our solidarity in Jesus Christ with the whole of humanity is realised. This is truly a mystery, and we struggle greatly to grasp it, yet it is the very essence of God’s merciful plan, which St Augustine calls the “total Christ”. This solidarity in Jesus Christ is present throughout the New Testament. Paul, for example, evokes it when he speaks of the New Adam and also when he says that Christ is the head of the Body of which we are the members. “The whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth until now” (Rom 8:22): the birth of which he speaks is precisely that of the Body of Christ. Jesus himself very often used the expression ‘Son of Man’ to announce the definitive victory of the whole of humanity gathered together as one man. If we take seriously the expression ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’ and if we consider the solidarity existing among all men in Jesus Christ, then we must also say that Christ does not go to the Father without us. This is the meaning of these words of Jesus: “Where I am, there you will be too”, and again, “When I have gone and prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me”. Paul affirms this in another way when he writes: “Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:39). Jesus concludes with a solemn promise: “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do.” After all that Jesus has just said about himself, the term “works” certainly does not refer solely to miracles, for throughout the Old Testament, when the word “work” is used in reference to God, it always refers to God’s great work of liberating his people. This means that the disciples are now associated with the work undertaken by God to free humanity from all physical or moral bondage. This promise of Christ encourages us to believe that, even though history shows the enduring presence of many forms of slavery, this liberation is possible and will come to pass. It is up to each of us to make our own contribution.

+Giovanni D’Ercole

Fourth Easter Sunday (year A)  [26 April 2026]

First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (2:14a, 36–41)

The account of Peter’s speech in Jerusalem on the morning of Pentecost continues, and since he is now filled with the Holy Spirit, he reads, as it were, an open book in God’s plan. Everything appears clear to him; he recalls the prophet Joel who had announced: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28), and it is evident to him that we are at the dawn of the fulfilment of this promise. Through Jesus, rejected and put to death by men, yet raised and exalted by God, the Spirit has been poured out upon all flesh, and Jewish pilgrims from every corner of the Roman Empire have come to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, the feast of the gift of the Law. During their journey and even upon arriving at the Temple in Jerusalem, the pilgrims sang psalms and implored God for the coming of the Messiah. Peter sought to open their eyes: the Messiah of whom you speak is that Jesus whom you have crucified, and when he declares Jesus to be Lord and Messiah, the Christ, these statements of his certainly seem very bold. If the man from Nazareth is the expected Messiah, this means that all the hope of Israel rests upon Jesus. Peter’s listeners were struck to the heart, says Luke, and Peter certainly knew how to touch their hearts. What must we do, they ask themselves? The answer is simple: repent to save yourselves from this perverse generation, and to repent, in biblical language, is precisely to turn around, to make a U-turn. There are two paths before us, and we often take the wrong one: we must then return to the right path. Peter makes a simple observation: the generation living at the time of Christ and the apostles was faced with a real challenge, namely to recognise in Jesus the Messiah awaited for centuries. Unfortunately, however, Jesus did not possess the characteristics or fulfil the hopes placed in the Messiah, who was imagined as the liberator of the Jewish people; thus, an error of judgement was made and the path was lost. For this reason, Peter calls on everyone to be converted and invites them to receive Baptism: be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit promised to you, to your children, and to all those who are far off, whom our Lord God will call. Furthermore, for Jews familiar with the study of the Scriptures, Peter recalls the prophecy of Joel – ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh’ – just as his words echo those of the prophet Isaiah concerning the peace and covenant desired by God with the people of Israel (cf. Is 49:1; 57:19). It was precisely through this Covenant that Israel felt bound to God: they were the chosen people, the son, as the prophet Hosea says (11:1), whilst other peoples seemed far from God. When Isaiah then states that peace is also for those who are far away, he recalls that the chosen people have a mission of peace for all humanity, called to enter into what might be called God’s plan of peace. The author notes that on that day three thousand were baptised. He adds that the three thousand Jews who had become Christians were among those whom Peter called ‘neighbours’. Little by little, throughout the Book of Acts, even those who were far off will join those ‘called’ by God. To them, St Paul will say, in his letter to the Ephesians: you who were once far off have now become neighbours through the blood of Christ. And it is Christ, our peace, for ‘of the two, the Jew and the Gentile’, he has made one (Eph 2:14–18).

Responsorial Psalm (22/23)

We encountered Psalm 22/23 on the Fourth Sunday of Lent.  At the time, I emphasised three points in my commentary: first, the psalms speak of Israel as a whole, even though the speaker uses the first person singular, saying ‘I’; second, to describe its religious experience, Israel uses two comparisons: that of the Levite who finds joy in dwelling in the House of God, and that of the pilgrim who takes part in the sacred meal following the thanksgiving sacrifices. However, one must read between the lines to see that, through these two comparisons, the chosen people feel a sense of wonder and gratitude for God’s gratuitous Covenant. Thirdly, the early Christians recognised in this psalm the privilege of their own experience as the baptised, and Psalm 22/23 became, in the early Church, the hymn for the celebration of Baptism. I shall simply pause at the first verse: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” There are many references in the Bible. The prophet Micah prays thus: Lord, with your staff be the shepherd of your people, the flock that belongs to you, so that the people may perceive themselves as God’s inheritance (cf. Mic 7:14). In Psalm 15/16, however, we find the inverse expression: ‘Lord, my portion and my cup; you determine my lot; the portion that falls to me brings me joy; I truly have the finest inheritance.’ When God is compared to a shepherd and Israel to his flock, one dares to think that the chosen people are a treasure to their God, which is a bold notion, and the use of such language is an invitation to trust, for God is portrayed as a good shepherd—that is, the one who gathers, guides, nourishes, cares for, protects and defends his flock, watching over all its needs. The prophet Micah writes that God will gather together all the remnant of Israel (cf. 2:12), and bring them together as a flock, gathering the lame and the scattered sheep. Zephaniah takes up the same theme: I will save the lame sheep (cf. 3:19), I will gather those who are scattered, which means that whenever we sow division, we are working against God. God, the attentive shepherd, shepherd-guide and defender of his flock. We find this frequently in the Psalms, particularly in Psalm 94/95, which is the daily morning prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, where we read: ‘We are the people he leads, the flock guided by his hand’. In Psalm 77/78 we read that, like a shepherd, God leads his people, drives his flock into the desert, guides them, defends them, reassures them, and Psalm 79/80 begins with an appeal: “Shepherd of Israel: listen, you who lead Joseph, your flock, reveal your strength and come to save us”. It is clear that in difficult times, when the flock—that is, Israel—feels ill-guided, abandoned, mistreated or, worse still, beaten down, the prophets often turn to the image of the good shepherd to restore hope. It is therefore no surprise to find this theme in Second Isaiah, in the Book of the Consolation of Israel: God, like a shepherd, tends his flock; his arm gathers the lambs, carries them close to his heart, and leads the nursing ewes (cf. 40:11), so that along the roads they may still graze; on the barren heights shall be their pastures; they shall neither hunger nor thirst; the scorching wind and the sun shall no longer strike them, for he, full of compassion, will guide them, lead them to living waters (cf. Is. 49:9–10). Finally, Ezekiel also takes up this theme, saying that thus says the Lord God: “I myself will tend my sheep and search for them, just as a shepherd searches for his flock when he is among his scattered sheep; so I will search for my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and thick fog; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the best places. I will feed them in good pasture, and their grazing grounds will be on the highlands of Israel; there my sheep will lie down in lush pastures and graze in rich pastures. ‘On the mountains of Israel, I myself will tend my flock and let them rest,’ declares the Lord God. ‘The lost sheep I will seek out; the strayed I will bring back; the injured I will bind up; the sick I will strengthen’ (cf. 34:11–16).  Today, in turn, we sing this Psalm 22/23, knowing that Jesus presented himself as the shepherd of the lost sheep, inviting us to place our trust in the tenderness of God the Shepherd. In a time like ours, when our societies are going through days of clouds and gloom, we are invited to contemplate the image of the Good Shepherd and to renew our trust: God, the true Good Shepherd, never abandons us. 

Second Reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter the Apostle (2:20b–25)

Saint Peter addresses a particular social group, slaves, because slavery still existed at that time and, under Roman law, a slave was at the mercy of his master, an object in his hands. It therefore happened that slaves suffered mistreatment at the whim of their masters, and a Christian slave serving a non-Christian master was exposed to even harsher oppression. Peter essentially encourages us to imitate Christ, who was himself a ‘slave out of love’ (cf. Phil 2:7) and who devoted his entire life to the service of all people. How, then, did he behave? When insulted, he did not respond with insults; when made to suffer, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to the One who judges justly. Saint Peter urges us to endure suffering even when doing good, knowing that it is a grace in God’s eyes to be able to behave like Christ when facing trials. Certainly there is no Christian vocation to suffering, but in suffering there is a call to behave according to the example of Christ. So it is not suffering for the sake of suffering, but imitating Christ, who himself suffered by taking our sins upon himself on the wood of the cross, so that, having died to sin, we might live for righteousness. For by his wounds we have been healed. God has saved us so that we may live for righteousness. We have been healed of our wounds, which are our inability to love and to give, to forgive, to share. Because of original sin, we were far from God and disoriented, wandering like sheep. In Christ, crucified for our sins, we have regained fidelity to God’s plan, and his wounds have healed us. Christ died to bear witness to the truth, remaining faithful to the Father even on the cross. The cross, a place of utter horror and unbridled human hatred, has become the throne of absolute love. In Jesus’ forgiveness of his executioners, we are given the chance to contemplate and believe in God’s love for humanity, revealed in the cross, which can transform and convert us.  The prophet Zechariah reminds us: “They will look upon him whom they have pierced” (cf. 12:10), and this heals us, saves us—that is, it makes us capable once more of loving and forgiving as Christ did. When we allow ourselves to be moved by this absolute love of God, our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh, capable of living as he did. Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by this contagion of mercy so that Christ may continue, through us too, the work of transforming all humanity: He continues to send out disciples “like lambs among wolves” (cf. Lk 10:3; Mt 10:16) so that, following in his footsteps, we may be witnesses everywhere to God’s infinite mercy.  

From the Gospel according to Saint John (10:1-10)

The coherence of this Sunday’s biblical readings is truly evident, for the psalm, the second reading and the Gospel lead us into a sheepfold. The psalm compares God’s relationship with Israel to a shepherd’s care for his flock: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures”; in the second reading, Saint Peter speaks of people like lost, wandering sheep, invited to return “to your shepherd, the guardian of your souls”. Here, in the Gospel, we read a passage from the long discourse on the Good Shepherd and a sheepfold. To understand it, we must make the effort to imagine the landscape of the Near East, where the flock is gathered for the night in a well-guarded enclosure and in the morning the shepherd comes to release the sheep to lead them to pasture: a scene very familiar to Jesus’ listeners at the time, firstly because there were many flocks in Israel, and secondly because the Old Testament prophets had taken to comparing God’s relationship with his people to that of a shepherd caring for his flock. In the responsorial psalm we have just heard some passages on this subject, and I would add a reference to the prophet Isaiah, who emphasises God’s care for his people: full of compassion, he ‘will lead them to springs of water’ (49:9–10). Furthermore, it was said of the future Messiah that he would be a shepherd for Israel, but at the same time the prophets never ceased to warn against false shepherds, a real danger to the sheep, and a matter of life and death for the flock. Jesus, in turn, takes up precisely this same theme, highlighting the shepherd’s care for his sheep and the danger of false shepherds—a subject he revisits in this Sunday’s Gospel in the form of two brief, successive parables: that of the shepherd, followed by that of the gate. It is interesting that he takes care to introduce both with the solemn formula ‘Truly, truly, I say to you’, an expression that always introduces something new. But if the theme of the shepherd was well known, where is the novelty? On the other hand, John specifies that these two parables are addressed to the Pharisees: Jesus tells the first, but, as he notes, they did not understand what Jesus meant to say to them, so Jesus continues with the second. The Pharisees did not understand the first, or did not want to understand it, perhaps simply because, quite clearly, Jesus suggests that he himself is this good shepherd capable of bringing happiness to his people, and they suddenly find themselves demoted to the rank of bad shepherds. Is it not that they understood perfectly well what Jesus meant, but could not accept it because that would be to admit that this Galilean is the Messiah, the One sent by God? Jesus bears no resemblance whatsoever to the image they had of him, and this is perhaps why Jesus took care to say, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you’. When he begins a discourse with this opening, one must pay particular attention, for it is equivalent to idiomatic expressions frequently found in the prophets of the Old Testament. Indeed, when the Spirit of God breathes into them words that are hard to understand or accept, the prophets always take care to begin—and sometimes end—their preaching with phrases such as ‘the word of the Lord’ or ‘thus says the Lord’. Although they knew this and were therefore aware that Jesus was speaking of matters of great importance, the Pharisees did not understand or did not wish to understand; nevertheless, Jesus persists, and John helps us to understand this deliberate insistence by noting that “then Jesus said again”. Here we see all of Jesus’ patience, as he tries in every way to convince his listeners: “Truly, truly, I say to you: I am the gate for the sheep” and whoever enters through me will be saved. Different ways to help them understand that he is the Messiah, the Saviour, and that only through him does the flock gain access to true life, life in abundance. We can draw one final lesson from this Gospel: Jesus says that the sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice, and behind this image, we can discern a reality of the life of faith: our contemporaries will not follow Christ, will not be his disciples, if we do not make the voice of Christ resound, if we do not make the Word of God known. Is this not, once again, Jesus’ heartfelt appeal to make the sound of his voice heard by every means possible? 

+Giovanni D’Ercole