OMELIE / Omelie EN

10 mag 2026

10 May 2026 – 6th Sunday of Easter – Year A

10 May 2026 – 6th Sunday of Easter – Year A

1st Reading Acts 8:5–8, 14–17; Psalm 65 2nd Reading 1 Peter 3:15–18 Gospel John 14:15–21

Philip, whether the apostle or the deacon, obeys the command given by Jesus: ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature’. Here he is, in Samaria of all places. Once, the Samaritans had not welcomed Jesus, so much so that James and John wanted to call down fire upon them. On another occasion, however, thanks to the woman he met at Jacob’s well, Jesus was able to stay with them for two days. Philip’s message was welcomed: his words were accompanied by the deliverance of the possessed and miraculous healings, which took place through the invocation of the holy name of Jesus.

The news of this acceptance of the Gospel, outside the Jewish people, surprised the apostles who were in Jerusalem. They immediately sent the two whom we often find together, Peter and John, to that region so that they might see for themselves what was happening. They indeed found that the Samaritans believed in Jesus and had already been baptised by Philip, but had not received the Holy Spirit.

So they prayed to God to grant this to them as well; they laid their hands on them, and behold, they too, though they were Samaritans, received the Holy Spirit! Everyone could see this, so much so that a magician, Simon, wanted to pay the apostles to receive the power to bestow the Holy Spirit himself!

How did they realise this? We are not told today, but we know: they began to speak in tongues, that is, they became able to make themselves understood by everyone, whatever their social background or culture. Moreover, they prophesied, that is, they began to speak of Jesus in a convincing way, contemplating his presence and his grace at every moment and in every event!

It is precisely of the Holy Spirit that Jesus speaks in the brief passage of the Gospel which recounts the words he spoke during the Last Supper. He promises to pray for us: ‘I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth’.

If Jesus prays for us, that the Father may give us the Paraclete, it means that the Paraclete is necessary for our life and for our place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Who is the Paraclete? If he is to remain with us forever, it is a sign that the Lord himself considers him very important. The term used by Jesus means ‘helper’: he is the one who assists us in every circumstance: as an advocate, if we need to be defended against the accusations of the devil and his followers; as a comforter, if something happens that causes us pain and sadness; as a reminder, if we forget his words and his commandments; as an encourager, should discouragement take hold of us, and so on.

Jesus also calls him ‘the Spirit of truth’, meaning that he brings into our hearts and minds the fullness of the Father’s love. There is no truth apart from God’s love: we shall see and understand all things and events in the light of the love that is God himself. Jesus adds a warning for us: the world does not know the Holy Spirit. He thus warns us not to confuse him with what the world demands of us, or with the world’s supposed wisdom and its philosophies. The world does not possess him and will not have him, and so we know that in God’s eyes we will always be different from the world. We will not seek to blend in with the world or to seek from it the wisdom to guide our lives.

We will accept Jesus’ words as commands, for they come from God and are the source of life: indeed, he repeats to us once more that he is one with the Father: ‘I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you’. He welcomes us as part of himself, and gives us the joy of knowing that in him we too are united with the Father, that is, divinised, bearers of his holy and powerful love!

To this beautiful truth is added what Saint Peter entrusts to us in the second reading. He exhorts or commands us: ‘Worship the Lord, Christ, in your hearts.’ We shall do so willingly, thus responding to Jesus’ revelation: if he is in the Father, it means that God is with him, and we are therefore glad to regard him above all things, and we shall worship him, that is, we shall place him at the head of our desires, and we shall obey him. Our hearts will be filled with him, and we shall be the joy of the Father, our God!

Should we suffer, as is likely, we shall not grieve: we shall be sustained and comforted by the Holy Spirit, assisted by him, who takes care to be for us what Jesus promised.