May 13, 2026 | Liturgical Year A
Seventh Sunday of Easter
- Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14
- Psalm: 27:1, 4, 7-8
- 1 Peter 4:13-16
- John 17:1-11a
Commentary:
One Christmas Eve, the U.S. immigration personnel stationed in El Paso, Texas, seemed in a hurry to get home. At the end of a long day of processing asylum requests, checking the international police data base for many hours, ushering families and individuals into temporary holding cells and warming up frozen burritos for many dozens of migrating people, it seemed that a critical moment had arrived.
They decided, as the dark of night descended, to just drop over a hundred migrating people off at the central bus station—with no food, no fresh clothing, no way of communicating with far-off family members who could buy them a bus ticket electronically, and little to no English.
The immigration personnel became anxious, it seemed, to get home to their own families and holiday celebrations, and just abandoned their detainees! The migrating adults and children were bewildered, hungry and at a loss about what to do next—an unusual breach in the protocol of cooperation that had been built up over the years between the local immigration authorities and the humanitarian organizations in the area.
But, suddenly, a storm of solidarity broke out, and a community of volunteers suddenly came into being. They responded to those who were looking for respect and dignity, arriving from many countries—just as at the first Pentecost. Instead of a deadly, horrible drought of indifference and selfishness, a downpour fell hard, full of compassion and charity, relief and joy, shared Christmas feasts and rides to places of rest and renewal.
May we also be attentive in this Easter season, as we draw near to God in our ascended Christ, and Pentecost’s promise nears fulfillment, to the release of the Holy Spirit among us, as well, bringing together a fresh community of faith in the Creator’s enlivening of an expectant world, desperate for effective manifestations of love.
Notes on the Readings
First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14
A ‘Sabbath day’s journey’ is considered to be about 1,000 yards, showing that the disciples of Jesus are Jews faithful to the Torah (specifically, Ex 16:29), since by going only as far as Mount Olivet they remain legally within Jerusalem, where Jesus commanded them to stay (Lk 24:49), to await being “clothed with power from on high” (at Pentecost).
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8
A psalm of trust in God, and by extension in the ideal place of refuge—the Temple in Jerusalem, “God’s house”—as our very hearts urgently move us to approach God.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 4:13-16
The inspired author sums up key ideas about suffering as he comes to the close of his letter—suffering as a cause for rejoicing when considered as a share in the sufferings of Christ, for instance, in contrast to the justly imposed consequences of bad behavior.
Gospel: John 17:1-11a
John is inspired to end Jesus’ Last Supper discourses (begun in Jn 13:33) with this majestic prayer, in which Jesus prays for himself–that God will crown his work by glorifying him–and then for his disciples, that they will remain faithful to Jesus in a hostile world.
Notes and Commentary by by Fr. Bob Mosher, a member of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban.