Households of Faith

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Weekly group meets every Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. in the church Basement

Good News Reflection for

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 10, 2026

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Ps 66:1-7, 16, 20
1 Peter 3:15-18
John 14:15-21

Jesus is giving you the best partner ever

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is our “Advocate”. Some scholars translate the word to “Counselor”. In the original Greek, it means “called alongside”. It’s closely related to the verb “parakaleo” (“to call” or “summon”) from which we get “Paraclete” as a name for the Holy Spirit. It referred to a legal assistant, a courtroom advocate. Jesus is telling us that the Holy Spirit is our legal assistant when we’re falsely accused, misjudged, or wrongly condemned.

Notice that Jesus refers to our Advocate as the “Spirit of Truth”. No matter what other people think about us, no matter what wrong things they say about us, no matter what opinions they have of us, God always knows the truth. And the truth that sets us free from their bad attitudes is this: It’s only God’s opinion that really matters. And his opinion of us is better than we think it is!

We judge ourselves more harshly than we should, and this is why we worry so much about how others are judging us. If we honestly examine our consciences, seek reconciliation with God for our sins during the Penance Rite at Mass or in the Sacrament of Confession, and strive to improve, then Jesus says to us what he said to other sinners: “I do not condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Don’t you sometimes wish that Jesus would come physically to your rescue when you’re misjudged? He said that he will not leave us orphans — his Holy Spirit will always be with us when we need to be defended, telling us the truth about our goodness.

Even when we sin, the Spirit of Truth defends us to our heavenly Judge: “Look, this precious child really does want to be holy.” To us, the Spirit says, “Let me teach you how to grow in holiness and avoid this sin.” And to others, the Spirit says: “If you love me, love this good friend of mine.”

Questions for Personal Reflection:
How have you been unjustly accused and unfairly judged? Imagine what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Father about that. And to those who condemned you. What is he saying to you about you?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:
Describe a time when God defended you. How did the Advocate manifest his help? Who learned more from it: you or your accusers?

Good News Reflection for

Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 3, 2026

Acts 6:1-7
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (with 22)
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12

Why we can do greater works than Jesus

This Sunday’s Gospel reading ends with a very astounding verse: “Whoever believes in me will do the works I do, and greater far than these.” What does he mean? How can we do the same — and greater — miracles than Jesus himself did?

The answer is found in the context of the entire chapter. Jesus is explaining his close relationship with the Father. Remember, Jesus was (and still is) both human and divine. We need to look at these verses with that in mind. How did he serve the Father as the Son of Man? And how did he serve the Father as the Son of God?

The “works I do” come from his human nature: He loved, he taught, he conversed with a listening heart, he dined with others, he worked hard at his job, he took his ministry very seriously. “Whoever believes in me will do the works I do” — he is our example of what it means to be a holy human. We will love others as he loves them, teach the faith to others, listen to those who need someone to understand them, work hard at our jobs, offer a helping hand when we see a need, etc. There’s nothing supernatural about it. It’s being who we are: human children of a loving Father.

The “greater” works come from his divine nature: He did the supernatural works of his Father. “Whoever believes in me will do the works of the Father.” We are called to be the Father’s conduits of miracles in our world today.

When Jesus united himself to us as a human, he showed us how to rise above our human limitations. Now, through the Sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation, we are united to Christ’s divine nature so that we can continue the works of the Father. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, any disunity is removed. We can love the unlovable after they’ve pushed us past our human limits. We can be conduits of the supernatural. We can do everything that God asks of us, despite our inadequacies.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
Make a list of your gifts and talents. Then reflect on how each of these are the human works of Jesus for the world today. How has the Father also worked through you supernaturally?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:
Name some of the good works being done in your parish or group: How do these reflect the human nature of Jesus? Name some of the ways that your parish or group shows the Father’s supernatural nature to the world. How can we become better able to do the “greater works” of the Father?

Good News Reflection for

Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 26, 2026

Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Ps 23: 1-6
1 Peter 2:20b-25
John 10:1-10

Do you need a breakthrough?

Are you at an impasse in your spiritual growth or emotional healing or a difficult relationship? Do you need a breakthrough? Do you feel stuck behind a fence that’s keeping you on the outside of peace, joy, satisfaction, or healing?

This Sunday’s Gospel reading tells us that Jesus is the gate in that fence. He helps us reach the heavenly side of the gate, outside the realm of earthly restrictions — not only when we die and enter eternal life, but also here and now in our earthly life, so that we might always “have life and have it more abundantly.”

When our path seems blocked, we can only make progress by letting Jesus shepherd us around and through and over the obstacles. If people shut a door on something that God wants us to do, Jesus is still our open gate and no one can close him out of our lives. He will lead us into a new opportunity for accomplishing the plans of God. If he’s given us a frustrated holy desire or a passion for which there seems to be no outlet, instead of complaining or quitting, we must look at Jesus and see him as a gate that opens into a new direction or location.

Remember, however, that until we get all the way through this gate, we must stick close to him like dumb sheep. There’s a journey to take before we can reach the other side of the fence.

The thief that comes to steal and slaughter can only reach us when we stray away from Jesus and we take our eyes off of him.

Despair and worry are two common thieves, robbing us of peace, joy, satisfaction, and healing. But they’re not as powerful as they pretend to be. We defeat them easily by remembering that they do not speak the full truth. The truth is: Jesus is our Good Shepherd safely guiding us into a life of abundant victory!

Questions for Personal Reflection:
What breakthrough are you hoping for? What’s frustrating you and seems hopeless? What’s causing you to think that a problem you’re facing might lead to disaster and destruction? What will you do this week to follow Jesus more closely so that you can get through this with more peace?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:
Share the story of a time when you experienced obstacles and Jesus provided a breakthrough that led to victory.

Good News Reflection for

Third Sunday of Easter
April 19, 2026

Acts 2:14, 22-33
Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-11
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35

How to see Jesus

The two disciples in this Sunday’s Gospel reading did not recognize Jesus until after they heard him explain the scriptures and then broke bread with him. It was a two-part process.

First, while listening to him teach about the scriptures, only their hearts recognized him. (“Were not our hearts burning within us?”) Their eyes didn’t see his true identity until Jesus shared a meal with them, raised the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them to eat.

When we celebrate Mass today, we’re on a similar journey with Jesus. First, we have the Liturgy of the Word, during which we hear the scriptures and a homily that explains them. This is a time of opening our hearts to him.

A well-trained reader will speak the words of scripture with meaning and emphasis so that our hearts can recognize God in the words. A well-trained priest or deacon will set our hearts on fire as if Jesus himself were teaching us the meaning of the scriptures. But even when the reader or homilist does a poor job, we can open our hearts to hear Jesus speaking to us directly.

Then we move into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When the presiding priest consecrates the bread and wine, it is Jesus himself who is actually doing it, using the priest’s hands and vocal chords. Jesus is doing for us what he did for those two disciples at Emmaus.

If we have opened our hearts to Jesus during the first part of Mass, and if we are still paying attention, we see much more than a piece of bread and a chalice of wine. We see Jesus. We recognize him with our hearts and our heads. We know beyond all doubt that the resurrected Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
In what area(s) of your life does Jesus seem to be absent? How can the Mass help you recognize Jesus and feel his closeness? What else can you do to discover the presence of Jesus when you are not able to sense his nearness?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:
When did you discover that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist? What helped you with that discovery? How do you know that the bread and wine change into the substance of Jesus while retaining their original form (which is called “transubstantiation”)? How easy is it for you to recognize Jesus in the Eucharist? Why?

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