Homily 6th Sunday of Easter - May 10, 2026

 Today's readings can be found here.

            You may have seen this in the news or online recently.  Many are discussing the large number of people in the United States converting to the Catholic Church. Apparently this year saw the largest number of converts in over twenty years.  There are plenty of stories and interviews about why so many people are converting.  However, I watched one video that asked a better question: now what?  Many of the converts left faith communities, friends, and families to be Catholic.  What can we do to help them keep this new Catholic faith alive and growing?  The video had an interesting suggestion.  Personal holiness.  We should strive to have a holiness about us that is easily visible to others.  This personal holiness then inspires holiness in others.

            How do we achieve this personal holiness?  Our readings today have the answer.   Peter tells us to sanctify Christ as the Lord in our hearts.  He also tells us to be ready to speak to others about our hope in Christ with gentleness and reverence.  Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we should keep His commandments.  Love God, love our neighbor, love our enemies.  I had a recent conversation with my spiritual advisor.  He was talking to a Protestant friend about what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus.  My spiritual advisor said those three things.  Love God, love your neighbor, love your enemy.  The person he was speaking with said he understood loving God and neighbor.  But loving your enemy was going too far.

            Loving our enemies can be very difficult at times.  But if we sanctify Jesus as our Lord in our hearts, we’re required to do so.  We don’t need to work out how to do so on our own.  We have the powerful example of the saints to guide us.  St. Therese of Lisieux had a fellow sister that irritated her in many ways.  She really didn’t like this person.  Because of this, St. Therese treated this nun with extreme kindness.  She smiled at her, volunteered to help her, and a was always charitable to her.  Based on St. Therese’s actions, the nun thought she was one of her favorite people!

Another model is St. Zita.  She is the patroness of domestic servants.  When she first went to work in the household of the Fatinelli family, she was treated poorly by the family and the other servants.  However, she always loved them as if they were Jesus and acted kindly to all.  Eventually her kindness won them over and she was put in charge of all the servants.  Instead of getting even with those that wronged her, she continued to treat them with kindness and even defended them when they made mistakes.  Both St. Therese and St. Zita treated everyone, especially their enemies, with kindness and reverence.  They served others as if they were serving Jesus.  They displayed personal holiness through their actions towards others.

Another way to achieve personal holiness is by discerning the will of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  God sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us always.  It is through the Holy Spirit that we can know how we can be more holy.  There are many ways to hear the Spirit speaking in us.  Personally, I’ve found that quiet time in prayer is the best way to know where the Spirit is guiding me.  Take ten to fifteen minutes.  Disconnect from all distractions.  No TV, cell phone, music, or streaming.  Just sit and be in the presence of the Spirit.  If you listen carefully, I think you’ll hear the Spirit speaking to you.  Then take action.  Move in the direction the Spirit is leading.  I’ve found in my life that if I’m doing the will of the Spirit, I encounter few obstacles.  Things may be hard or challenging, but there’s progress.  When I try to go my own way, the obstacles become nearly insurmountable.  It becomes obvious to me I’m going the wrong way.

Peter calls us to sanctify Christ as the Lord of our hearts.  Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we will keep his commandments.  Jesus tells us to love God, our neighbor, and our enemy.  The saints show us that the best way to love God and others is through acts of gentleness and reverence.  Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us to be more holy.  Who in our lives needs more kindness and reverence?  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us in our efforts to be more like the saints.