What are you waiting for? Homily for May 10, 2026

What are you waiting for? Whether it is the early Church, or today, we have many similarities. Jesus still changes lives. Jesus still offers fulfillment. Jesus still saves. Jesus calls us to share this great hope and fulfillment. Readings for Today.

What are you waiting for?

In the 28th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is very direct in what he tells us to do. It’s called the Great Commission. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.”

Do we do this? Are you involved in the mission of making disciples? Are you concerned about making sure others are baptized and want to live a new life? Do we teach, especially by the nature of the witness of our own lives, to others?

Today we encounter St. Philip in the first reading. Philip was very enthusiastic to share his faith with others. In a few verses after today’s reading, he quickly baptizes an Ethiopian. And we hear in today’s first reading that the impact of the Apostles preaching and the signs they were performing were amazing.

People are being converted and the Apostles are going out from Jerusalem. It is an evangelizing church, one concerned about introducing people to Jesus. Since they have received the Holy Spirit, everything seems to be buzzing for the early church.

Now this focus on evangelization did not go away after the early church. It should be our focus today. We need to teach to share just what Jesus and his goodness has done for us. But just how is it we are to do this? What does it mean to share our faith with others? And how do we do so in a way that is not obnoxious but welcoming?

This is not an insignificant question. In the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, things were booming. At its height, 5.6 million children attended Catholic schools. Religious communities and diocesan presbyteries were large and numerous. I lived with a Dominican friar who entered in the 1950s and in his novitiate class there were 50. Five zero. Just imagine.

Well this was a great time for the Catholic Church in the United States. It could leave us with complacency. The church in the 1950s was not the church in the United States throughout the rest of our history, either before or after.

Still, we need to share our faith. I mean, just look at the world. So many things seem completely out of control. I think in the midst of very rapid change, so many do not know what to do. They are seeking security and certainty.

But as is true in so many ways, there are different types of security and different types of certainty. Do we take what seems easy, trusting in a quick solution as it seems many are doing, or do we look for something harder but more certain?

Even a brief analysis of the current time shows the problems we face. War in Iran and so many other conflicts all over the world. We read that in the United States there is an epidemic of loneliness. Technology, which was the great promise of creating so much leisure time it would become a problem for us, as one government report suggested in 1965, it has done just the opposite. Our bosses can reach us at any time. Social media sucks up all free time for many. Mental health issues are rising quite dramatically. People are not getting married and they are not having children.

In many ways, the early church had similar problems. Christianity was an illegal religion. The Jews were persecuted by the Romans. The vast majority of society was poor, struggling to meet basic needs.

And against this backdrop, people became Christian in spite of its illegal status. But people did become Christian and they cared for each other. They shared what they had and looked out for each other and all witnessed the amazing deeds done by the Holy Spirit.

Most of all, they shared their beliefs. The numbers being baptized were unbelievably amazing, thousands at a time. The answer to the problems evident among people in the early church was the unbelievable gift of faith.

This is also the answer for us today. If we recognize the amazing presence of the Holy Spirit in each one of us. In the early church and now, Jesus sends the advocate to help us to grow the number of people becoming totally fulfilled because of their faith in Jesus.

But the question still remains. Will you do what Jesus asks? Will you become more open in sharing your faith, sharing the ways in which we have found so much in Jesus? Will you invite people by your witness to loving God and neighbor, to becoming Catholic?

Because the Easter season is mostly about what we are willing to do because of the resurrection of Jesus, which changes everything. The Easter season leads to Pentecost, which helps us to focus on all that can be, to all that God can do in our lives, the lives of others, and in the lives of everyone in the world.

And we do not do this alone. Jesus assures us we will not be orphans because Jesus will be with us. We will see just how connected we have become with Jesus. He is amazing. He can enable us to do things we could never imagine ourselves doing. And so today, we are working to recognize this presence of Jesus. And we are recognizing the ways in which God wants to use us, recognizing the needs in others that only Jesus can fulfill.

And so today, we hear what we need to do and who it is we need to be. And so what are you waiting for?

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