May 10, 2026
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Gospel: John 14:15-21

Today is the Sixth Sunday of Easter. We are drawing ever closer to the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. During these time, the Gospel passages we hear are taken from the Farewell Discourse of Our Lord in the Gospel of John: His final words to the disciples before His Passion. Today’s text continues to present us with these moving and profound sayings.

We often witness such scenes in our daily lives: while pursuing our studies, we frequently say to those who teach us, “Teacher, we love you!” In our eyes, these educators pour out their hearts to instruct us, so that through all they impart, we may endure in this shifting world and not be cast aside by society or fail to thrive. Yet when we graduate, we feel sorrow and grief, for we must leave the safe harbor of the school and enter a world unknown. At times, we are like the disciples of Jesus, fearing we will see our Teacher no more.

One might think that Jesus’ words to His followers before His Passion were merely a final farewell; but this is far from the truth. Before leaving them, Jesus continued to console them, promising that after He was taken up, He would ask the Father to send another Advocate to those who keep His commandments:One who would remain with them forever (cf. John 14:15-16). This Advocate is the Holy Spirit, whom we received in the Sacraments of Initiation. The Spirit we have received “proceeds from the Father” and is the “Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept” (cf. John 14:17; 15:26). The world cannot receive Him because it refuses to accept all that Christ proclaimed. Thus, they cannot come to know the Father through Christ’s word, nor can they find release from sin and death through the Baptism Christ offers. But having received the Holy Spirit, sent into the world after Christ’s Ascension, we are called to follow His guidance, putting to death the deeds of the flesh through the power of the Spirit, so as to attain eternal life.

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord! Since we have received Baptism in Christ, been cleansed from original sin in the water that flowed from His sacred side, and been born anew in Him: since, through faith, we have received the Holy Spirit and resolved to be reborn of water and the Spirit: let us then follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, always doing the will of the Father, encouraging one another, and journeying together toward holiness.

Grant, almighty God,
that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy,
which we keep in honor of the risen Lord,
and that what we relive in remembrance
we may always hold to in what we do.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica