The Father Loves You

Homily for Saturday of the Sixth Week in Easter

In John 16, Jesus speaks tenderly to His disciples about a new kind of relationship with the Father. “The Father Himself loves you,” He says—a love so close that they can now ask in Jesus’ name and receive. Jesus is preparing them for a time when confusion will give way to clarity, when sorrow will give way to joy, and when their relationship with God will be marked by confidence rather than fear.

In Acts 18, we meet Apollos—gifted, eloquent, passionate. Yet even he needed deeper understanding. Priscilla and Aquila quietly take him aside and “explain the Way of God more accurately.” And with that deeper formation, Apollos becomes a powerful witness who strengthens the believers and refutes opponents with conviction.

Put together, these readings reveal a simple but profound truth: Faith grows through relationship and through teaching. Jesus opens the door to the Father, and the Church helps us walk through it.

We never “arrive” in faith. Like the disciples, we move from confusion to clarity. Like Apollos, we grow through the patient guidance of others. And like both, we are invited into a living, maturing relationship with God—one that deepens every time we pray, every time we learn, every time we allow ourselves to be taught.

So today, hear Jesus’ words personally: “The Father Himself loves you.” 

And let that love draw you—like Apollos—into a faith that keeps growing, keeps learning, and keeps bearing fruit.