A Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 & 10:00 Masses
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29
Audio Recording
As Pentecost draws near, our hearts are invited to prepare for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit — the Spirit promised by Jesus to be our Advocate, Comforter, and Teacher. One of the most powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit is Truth. Jesus assures us: ”When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth” (John 16:13).
And yet, in our world today, truth is under siege. We live in a time when people believe they can define their own truth, follow their own spiritual path, and interpret Scripture on their own, apart from any authority. This has led to fragmentation and confusion, even among Christians. As of today, there are over 45,000 distinct Christian denominations, many of them born out of private interpretation and human disagreement. And each one claims to represent the Truth of Christ. How can this be?
The answer lies in a misunderstanding — a forgetting, even a rejection — of how Jesus established His Church and entrusted it with AUTHORITY. When Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit guiding us into all Truth, He was not speaking to a vague collective of future believers. He was speaking to the Apostles, the men He had chosen, taught, and sent. And when He promised that the Holy Spirit would “teach you everything” and “remind you of all I have told you” (John 14:26), He was establishing a principle: divine Truth would be safeguarded and transmitted NOT BY INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATION, BUT BY THE CHURCH HE FOUNDED.
We see this reality unfold in Acts 15 at the first ecumenical council, the Council of Jerusalem, culminating in today’s first reading. A serious theological question had emerged for the early Church: Should Gentile converts be required to observe the Mosaic Law, including circumcision?
Jesus did not give explicit instruction on this matter before His ascension. So what did the early Church do to address the issue? The Apostles and elders came together in COUNCIL — not as private individuals, but as a united body tasked with discernment under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And then they made their decision with a REMARKABLE declaration: “IT IS THE DECISION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND OF US…” (Acts 15:28). Yes, scripture clearly tells us that the Holy Spirit made the decision, working through the Apostles, the men chosen by Christ himself to lead his Church!
Here we see the Church speaking authoritatively for the first time in its magisterial voice. The Apostles did not appeal to individual inspiration or to subjective reading of Scripture. They recognized that Truth is not a matter of personal opinion, but it is preserved in the communion of the Church, GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT AND ROOTED IN APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY.
This pattern did not end in Jerusalem. It has continued through the centuries in what we call the Magisterium — the teaching office of the Church, composed of the pope and bishops in communion with him. Through ECUMENICAL COUNCILS — there have been 20 of them over the years, the most recent being the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) — and through its OFFICIAL TEACHINGS, the Church has safeguarded the deposit of faith from distortion and heresy. This same Holy Spirit at work today, ensuring that the Truth of Christ, the Word of God, remains whole and uncorrupted, no matter the age or culture.
We saw a powerful expression of this just recently in the election of Pope Leo XIV. The conclave is not merely a human vote or political event; it is a sacred moment of discernment, conducted in prayer and silence, invoking the Holy Spirit to guide the College of Cardinals.
When the cardinals cast their ballots, they did so with the conviction that they were cooperating with God’s will, seeking not popularity or influence, but to elect the man chosen by Christ to shepherd His Church. Pope Leo XIV, a man of deep faith and experience, now steps forward not simply as an administrator, but as the SUCCESSOR OF PETER — anointed by the Spirit to lead the Church in Truth and charity.
Pope Leo’s election reminds us that the Spirit of Truth is still very much alive, present, and active, guiding the Church through history in continuity with Christ’s promise.
But what has happened in much of the Christian world since the Reformation is a REJECTION of that principle. Once private interpretation of Scripture was elevated above the authority of the Church, fragmentation was inevitable. The idea that “Scripture alone” without a divinely protected interpreter could maintain unity has been proven false. From one breakaway group came another, and another — and now tens of thousands, each claiming to be right. Each interpreting Scripture in ways that often contradict one another. This is not the unity for which Jesus prayed at the Last Supper: “That they may all be one”(John 17:21).
And let us be clear: this understanding of the authority of the Church is not a matter of arrogance or superiority. The Catholic Church does not claim to have invented the Truth; rather, she has been ENTRUSTED with it. She is the steward of the Truth, not the source. As St. Paul wrote, the Church is “the pillar and bulwark of the Truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). She is the LIVING VOICE OF CHRIST, not simply a human institution, but the BODY OF CHRIST, enlivened and directed by the Holy Spirit.
As we approach Pentecost, we must reclaim and reflect on the beauty and power of this gift. The Holy Spirit DOES NOT SOW CONFUSION. The Holy Spirit does not lead people to contradictory beliefs. The Spirit speaks with the voice of Christ, and that voice is preserved in the continuity of the Church that has stood for nearly 2,000 years. The Church against which the gates of Hell will not prevail.
Dear friends, we live in an age of relativism and skepticism. People question authority, reject tradition, and often prefer to create their own “spirituality.” But God did not leave us to navigate this world alone. He did not give us a book and say, “Good luck.” HE GAVE US HIS SPIRIT. And He gave us His Church.
If we truly want to follow Christ, we must listen to the voice of His Church. We must subject our opinions, our interpretations, even our preferences to the judgment of the Church that Christ Himself established, the Church he promised to guide.
This complete submission to the authority of the Church is not bondage — it is FREEDOM. For as Jesus said, “You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free” (John 8:32). The Holy Spirit liberates us NOT by giving us license to believe whatever we want to believe, TO ACCEPT SOME CHURCH TEACHINGS AND REJECT OTHERS, but He liberates us by revealing what God Himself wants us to know through the teachings of the Church and its definitive interpretation of Scripture. Truth is not invented by us; IT IS RECEIVED by us. And it is received through the Spirit of Truth working in the heart of the Church.
So let us not squander this precious gift. Let us be grateful that we belong to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Let us pray for unity among Christians, YES — but UNITY GROUNDED IN TRUTH. And let us recommit ourselves to the voice of the Church, the only voice that speaks with the authority of Christ through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
God bless you.