6th Sunday of Easter (May 22, 2022)

In the first reading, the apostles, who had gathered together as a body in Jerusalem, said, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities.” To some, this may sound presumptuous, but the Apostles were aware that their decision had a special quality, so that it could be said that they were acting with the Holy Spirit.
In fact, in the Gospel, Jesus speaks about the enduring presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. An example of this is Saint John Paul II’s infallible teaching on abortion, given in Evangelium Vitae, paragraph 57 (and 62), which reads: “Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, and in communion with the Bishops of the Catholic Church, I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral. This doctrine, based upon that unwritten law which man, in the light of reason, finds in his own heart, is reaffirmed by Sacred Scripture, transmitted by the Tradition of the Church and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.”

That Christ’s farewell gift of peace may be preserved through a renewed respect and protection for every human life, we pray to the Lord...