Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A · May 3, 2026
First Reading: Acts 6:1–7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33
Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:4–9
Gospel: John 14:1–12
Full text on USCCB: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050326.cfm
At the end of a long day, there is a moment when the tasks in front of you can feel too small to matter. Whether you are helping with homework, carrying groceries for a grandparent, warming soup for a sick neighbour, or attending a late parish meeting, exhaustion sets in. Beneath the tiredness, a question rises: is this all my life amounts to?
If you are holding that question, today’s Gospel is for you. Jesus tells his disciples, Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these (John 14:12). We hear greater works and picture grand miracles. But the Book of Acts shows us something different. One of these great works begins with a complaint about lunch. When a dispute arose over feeding widows (Acts 6:1-7), the apostles did not assign the task to anyone available. They asked for seven people filled with the Spirit and wisdom. For serving a daily meal. Why? Because to God, no act of love is menial. The widow matters as much as the crowd. The lunch matters as much as the sermon.
So why do we dismiss our own daily efforts? Often it is because the world bombards us with everyone else’s highlight reels. We see their summits, their applause, and their curated mornings. We end up comparing our real, unphotographed days to someone else’s stage-lit performance. But your life is not small. You have been looking at the wrong picture.
God has always worked through the ordinary. Those seven men chosen to serve lunch included Stephen, the first martyr, and Philip, who carried the Gospel into Africa. The act of feeding widows formed the hearts of men who would shake empires.
We see this with David, too. Even after being anointed as the future king, David’s father sent him on an errand to deliver bread to his brothers at the battlefront. He could have refused such a lowly task, but he took the loaves. On that humble bread run, he encountered Goliath (1 Samuel 16-17) and the course of Israel’s history turned. Between his anointing and his throne lay a mundane chore. God does not despise the small tasks. He fills them with His Spirit and makes them great.
This week, name one task in front of you that feels small or tiresome. Whether it is caring for an aging parent, tending to a child, or helping at your parish. Before you begin, take a breath and pray silently: Lord, this is my loaf. This is my table. Fill me with your Spirit, that I may carry it well.
Go gently into those little things. The same Spirit who filled seven men to serve lunch will fill your hands too. There is no greater work than the work God is asking of you today.