Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2026 Year A
Readings:
Readings: Acts 6:1-7; 1Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12
Following Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life
Dear friends,
It is with a sense of deep trust in God, like Abraham taking his only child Isaac to Mount Moriah, that we gather to celebrate our Sunday’s Eucharist. I allude to this biblical story because God knows we Catholics need a good dosage of trust replenishment. We live at a time when we are surrounded by chaos, uncertainty and instability. We think of war, conflict and division in the world. But we are also mindful of the changes going on within the church such as the demise of religious life, the lack of priestly vocations and the loss of religious affiliation.
Yet despite all of these challenges, the Holy Spirit is with us as he was with that small group of disciples who huddled together in fear at the Upper Room. The same Spirit accompanies us on our mission of healing, comforting, strengthening and building up the body of Christ. The same Spirit urges us not to be an inward-looking institution but a missionary and prophetic community of disciples, who despite their failings, continue the very mission of Jesus.
Pope Francis famously commented a passage from the Book of Revelation in which Jesus stands before the door and knocks. The Pope said: “Today Christ is knocking from inside the Church and wants to get out.” He challenged us to think beyond the walls of the institution, because that is where people are looking for Christ, too, not just inside. We must not be an inward-looking and maintenance-focused people. Rather, we must be willing to be mission-oriented serving people where they are, in our parishes through liturgy and sacraments but also through pastoral closeness to those wandering in the new Babylon, that is the “strange land” beyond the pews.
The liturgy of the Word today nourishes us with hope. In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we are presented with a picture of the fledging Christian community, which is small in number, poor in resources and yet incredibly generous, courageous, outward-looking and even boundary-breaking. In the face of external pressure and persecution, they embraced radical solidarity. They all sold their possessions and shared the proceeds in common. In today’s account, we are told how the community resolved the dispute concerning the care of the widows. They chose workers who would ensure the needs of all were met and the spirit of Jesus was alive in the community.
The Gospel gives us a moving account of Jesus’ farewell discourse with his disciples. After Judas had gone to set in motion the drama of betrayal, arrest and crucifixion, Jesus spoke words of comfort and reassurance to them. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still and trust in me. I am going to prepare a place for you so that where I am you may be too”.
This is not only a promise of an after-life bliss in heaven. Rather, it is an invitation to follow Jesus in his ultimate act of total mutual indwelling with God. Jesus knowing full well the road to Calvary ahead encourages the disciples to follow his lead. He invites them to emulate him in his imminent suffering, passion and death.
Like them, we are challenged to walk the journey of transformation by living out the demands of our pilgrim faith. This requires of us to have the courage to let go of the familiar and secure, the courage to launch into the deep, with everything that it entails. The cross beckons us to move from fear to faith, from security to trust and from self-interest to solidarity and communion.
Throughout his life, Jesus had shown what God was like through his attitudes and actions, particularly his messianic works. These works are healing, forgiving, to restoring and to making whole. It is to give life in its fulness to all. In essence, the works of Jesus is encapsulated by his death on the cross. Hence, “the place where I am going” is not simply a reference to paradise. It is an invitation to mutual indwelling, which is accomplished fully by one’s embrace of the cross.
Dear brothers and sisters,
There is much that we can learn from the early Christian community. We may be losing what we have accumulated over the centuries such as our temporal powers, resources and even numbers. We are facing a world that is no longer a byproduct of the Holy Roman Empire or Christendom of old. Yet as long as we can be a force of love, a force of solidarity and a force of leaven like the early Christians, we will have fulfilled our vocation.
In the midst of a fast changing and increasing secular environment, we have the assurance of the risen Lord who abides with us. “Trust in God and trust in me”. Let us be walk the path he walked before us with complete confidence. Let us pray that we may grow through chaos and uncertainty in order to be more aligned with God’s purpose. May we become God’s priestly and consecrated people, anointed to serve and with the one who is the Alpha and Omega, may we bring the kingdom to birth and to fruitfulness in the world.
