Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily (2026)
5th Sunday of Easter, Year A
Acts 6:1-7
Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (22)
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12
May 3, 2026
Do you have anxiety or distress in your life?
Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
What troubles you? Serious illness? Job issues? War? Mass shootings? I could go on but I’m sure you get the idea.
In the midst of our troubles, Jesus invites us to hand our troubles over to him when He says, “You have faith in God, have faith also in me.”
He does not tell us that our troubles will always disappear if we have faith but faith will change the way we look at our troubles.
We read multiple times in the Acts of the Apostles of how “the number of disciples continued to grow.” In those days, the Church was growing by leaps and bounds as the gospel spread out from Jerusalem.
One of the things that troubles me is the decline in the last fifty years of people coming to church. The good news is in the five years since COVID, our numbers have been increasing, first rapidly as people came back to church after COVID. Now our numbers continue to increase but very slowly. We are grateful that it is at least moving in the right direction.
The rapid growth in the early church was not without its problems. For instance, the Hellenists’ widows “were being neglected in the daily distribution.”
The Twelve understand there was a problem, but they also knew it was not right for them “to neglect the word of God to serve at table.” So, seven men were appointed as deacons so the Twelve could continue to devote themselves “to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
This leads me to think about what God is calling me to do. I am not called to be an Apostle but neither am I called to be an administrator.
In my first Sunday homily here five years ago, I told you the three tasks I most feel called to do as a priest are to say Mass, hear confessions, and to teach the faith through presentations and writings.
As the only priest in our two parishes, I am privileged to say lots of Masses. I hear confessions regularly, well if anyone shows up I do. I do some teaching but not in the way I personally feel most called to and that gives me energy. Administration, being short-staffed, and lacking enough volunteers, I have had too many other tasks to tend to.
I have been to be talking to Bishop Bonnici and sharing some of my past teachings and writings with him. He sees my giftedness and has agreed it is time to make a change.
So, on June 30th, I will be reassigned to St. Louis Church in Pittsford, NY as Parochial Vicar (assisting priest) to allow me to let go of the administration and other duties that have been taking too much of my time so that I can do what God calls me to do and gives me life.
Fr. Bob Ring will become the new Parochial Administrator here. Please welcome him and offer help in areas where God has given you the proper gifts so Fr. Bob can focus on what God calls him to do.
I do this with my promise of obedience to Bishop Bonnici as he gives me this assignment and I accept it placing my trust in God. I do this with gratitude for the good things that have gone on here in my five years here and for the grace God has provided us in difficult moments.
Each and every person is precious to God and chosen to be his children. We are called to make Jesus the cornerstone of our lives as He calls us “out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
In my ministry I try to point you to Jesus as “the way and the truth and the life.” I pray that you seek to make Jesus the cornerstone of your life. This is always what matters most to me for when we know Jesus as “the way and the truth and the life,” we know the Father and the love He has for us.
Do you place your trust in God? Do you hand all your troubles over to Jesus in faith? Do you allow God to bring through your troubles?
Do you seek to use the gifts God has given you to build up his kingdom?
Do you seek to follow Jesus as “the way and the truth and the life” or do you prefer to make your own way?
Two days after giving this homily, I wrote “Working For a Better Future” to help people understand me and why I am looking forward to this change.