Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 3, 2026

GOSPEL MEDITATION

We generally approach life with the question, “What can this do for me?” We try a new workout, a low-carb diet, intermittent fasting, or a new career path, hoping it will make us healthier, stronger, happier. The assumption is that if I invest in this, I’ll eventually reap some benefit, or I won’t do it.

It is easy to think of faith the same way: if I really practice my faith, what will it do for me? Will it make me calmer, more moral, more successful?

But in today’s Gospel, Jesus says something astonishing. He doesn’t present himself as a teacher who shows us the way to life. He says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6) He is not merely a guide toward some higher benefit. He is the benefit itself. To know him is to know Life.

Thomas Aquinas explains that every desire in the human heart — love, joy, meaning, all of our restless cravings — is really an indirect cry for life. Even despair testifies to this longing: people despair precisely because they feel they are not, and might never be, fully alive.

The good news is that Jesus is not simply the means to a better life; He is Life itself. To believe in him is to share in God’s own eternal vitality. Not simply later but even now. Faith is not a transaction that produces results — it is a union that fills us with joy. To be in communion with Christ is to be truly, fully alive.
- Father John Muir

PRO-LIFE CORNER

"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life."
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 2270

EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP

What do you think is the value of your stewardship? Do you believe that through your actions both great and small that God can touch people, heal them, and change their lives? Too often we can mistakenly assume that what we do, say, or offer can have little effect in the grand scheme of life. We are simply poor sinners in need of salvation so what could we do anyway?

Jesus speaks very powerfully to what can be done by those who believe in him and follow him. He says in John's Gospel, "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father." Greater ones than these? Think about all the miracles of Jesus recorded in sacred Scripture. You and I can do works greater than those?

A FAMILY PERSPECTIVE

Jesus tells us in the gospel: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me!” The point is: God is in each one of us, in our relationships and in our homes. The vocation of the Christian family is to live the divine gift which is already in and around us.
- Bud Ozar

ALTOONA CURVE BASEBALL

Tickets are available for the Curve vs. The Chesapeak Baysox game on Friday, June 12, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in section 108. Tickets are $7 for registered parishioners and $13 for non parishioners. Please stop by the church office on Thursday’s or Friday’s between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. if you would like to attend. We thank Dennis Greiner for making all of the arrangements

Prayer Requests

Kathy Ansman, Mark Blackie, Rod Baronner, Dan Bauer, Dave Bauer, Jack Chilcote, Harry Chirdon, Karen Claar, Brandon Conaway, Shirley Conlon, Denise Conrad, James Conrad, Kathy Corl, William Costlow, Joe DeGennaro Jr., Colette DiMemmo, Margaret Dodson, Tim Dodson, Joan Donnelly, Matthew Dorman, Nate Dorman, Amelia Doughurty, Lois Duncan, Thomas Duncan, Paul Dunmire, Ashley Eagen, Corinda Ermin, Roberta Farabaugh, Herman Frederick, Pat Harpster, Leighton Hess, Lucy Horton, Raymond Kargo, Carol Keagy, Russell Keith, John Kleine, Ruth Lamca, Cyndi Lansberry, Beth Lloyd, Joan Maier, Charles McGrain, Shirley McIntyre, Mason Wayne McManus, Paul Angelo Morelli, Bev Mueller, Bonnie Neal, Jessica Neff, Lee Neff, Kevin O'Rourke, Lucille Parker, Sarah Rihnovich, Nancy Servello, Elizabeth Siglow, Laura Snyder, Bill stauffer, Alex Walter, Margo Wascherl, Joan Weston, Renee Williams, Mikayla Yanchik, Pat Zeak.

If you would like to add a sick or hospitalized person to our prayer list or readd a person, please call the rectory office, at 943-8553. Parishioners of Saint Mary are encouraged and welcome to participate. Remember, you must have the permission of the ill person/family to publish their name.

Sacred Heart Church