Fifth Sunday of Easter – Cycle “A”, May 22, 2011

All of today’s readings have been about building the Church. In the first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how the early Church began to organize itself by devolving jobs to different people. In our second reading, from St. Peter’s first letter, the man that Jesus called His rock and instructed to be the foundation of the new Church tells us all that Jesus is the cornerstone of the new Church. Jesus is the stone around which the whole Church is aligned and made strong. And our Gospel reading today tells us that Christ is the way to God and that belief in Him will enable Jesus’ followers to do great things. Today’s reading comes from the part of St. John’s Gospel that contains the teaching Jesus gave to His disciples during the Last Supper. It might seem strange to have a reading today, a few weeks after Easter, with words Jesus spoke on Holy Thursday. But the theme of the reading is about what will happen when Jesus leaves His disciples, and so it makes sense to read it in this time of the Church’s year between Easter and the celebration of Christ’s ascension to heaven.

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