Sixth Sunday of Easter

Philip goes to Samaria, and there is great joy in that city. Then Peter and John come and the Spirit falls on those already baptized. Two movements, both necessary: the initial proclamation and joy, then the deeper gift through the apostolic community. The Samaritan Pentecost required both Philip and the apostles - neither was sufficient alone. This is worth noting in your twenties, when the faith can feel like a private interior experience or alternatively like a purely communal institution. It is both. The Spirit given through the laying on of hands is the same Spirit who produced great joy in Samaria before anyone laid hands on anyone.

Peter says: sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Then be ready to give a reason for your hope - with gentleness and reverence. The interior life comes before the external witness, and the manner of the witness matters as much as its content. Gentle, reverent, from a clear conscience. That is a very different kind of witness than the aggressive apologetics version. It is the kind that works over time, in relationships, in the consistent life that people notice before they ask the question.

Jesus says: I will not leave you orphans. In your twenties, when the faith can feel like standing alone in rooms where no one else seems to share it, that sentence is worth holding. The Advocate remains with you, in you. The world cannot see or know him. You can know him - because he remains.

The psalm says: I will declare what he has done for me. Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness. Write two sentences this week: one about a prayer you have prayed and one about how the kindness showed up - not necessarily in the way you expected, but enough to recognize. That is your reason for hope. That is the testimony Peter asks you to be ready to give.

Lord, sanctify yourself in my heart before I speak about you to anyone. Let the witness come from the inside - from actually knowing you - not from performing the knowing. I will not be an orphan. The Spirit of truth is in me. Alleluia. Amen.