April 25, 2021

B22: The Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B (2021)

Michael Renninger

“It happened three years ago. Pope Francis went to visit a small church in Rome. As part of his visit, five children were selected to ask the Pope a question,” begins Father Michael Renninger, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia. The first little boy, Emanuele, was about five years old. When he got to the microphone, he froze. The pope invited him to whisper his question in his ear. Emanuele asked a question that even adults ponder, “Could his dad, a non-believer, go to heaven?” Renninger preaches from Acts 4:5-12, a passage that many used to criticize the Pope’s response to the child, but a passage that Renninger uses to remind us that we are all God’s children and that “God is greater than our hearts. Which means that God’s love is bigger than our limitations.”

Manuscript available: click HERE