2026-05-10 Sixth Sunday of Easter
2026-05-10 Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 Samaria was a region of contested Jewish identity - faithful descendants of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who worshiped at Mount Gerizim instead of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. Samaritans were worshippers of the same God Yahweh but with different beliefs from other Jews, with each claiming to uphold the identity of Abraham. Philip, one of the seven presbyters, takes the Gospel to Samaria and baptises them by the water but it is only after Peter, one of the Apostles, lays hands on them does God bless them with the gift of the Spirit - confirming that the Samaritans as a whole are now part of the Church. With this act the old divisions that kept Samaritans and Jews at odds would be undone in the family of God united in Jesus. The same baptism, the same Spirit, would mark them all as beloved children. Even today the Bishop, direct descendants of the Apostles, in most cases is the one ...