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Easter Season · Fifth Sunday of Easter · Year A

Acts 6:1-7

The Seven Are Set Apart

May 3, 2026

The Ordination of St. Stephen, Vittore Carpaccio
The Ordination of St. Stephen, Vittore Carpaccio, 1511Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Wikimedia Commons)
From Carpaccio's Stephen cycle for a Venetian confraternity. Peter lays hands on the seven in an imagined eastern city of domes and minarets.They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.Vittore CarpaccioA Venetian narrative painter whose cycles of saints' lives are also the best surviving record of what Venice looked like.Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Wikimedia Commons)Berlin's old master collection, one of the finest in the world, rebuilt after the war split it between east and west.Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Wikimedia Commons)
Roman Lectionary
GospelJohn 14:1-12Jn 14:1-12
Second Reading1 Pet. 2:4-91 Pt 2:4-9
First ReadingActs 6:1-7
Responsorial PsalmPs. 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (22)Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (22)

Overview & Insights

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4)

Luke’s first notice of friction inside the Jerusalem community is domestic rather than doctrinal: the Hellenists, Greek-speaking Jews, complain that their widows are being overlooked in the daily distribution (v. 1). The apostles’ solution distinguishes two kinds of diakonia, service of tables and service of the word (vv. 2, 4), though Luke immediately complicates the division, since Stephen and Philip go on to preach and baptize (6:8-10; 8:5). All seven names are Greek, and Nicolaus is identified as a proselyte from Antioch, so the group chosen looks like the aggrieved party rather than a committee appointed over it. Luke never calls them deacons. The unit closes with one of his growth refrains, “the word of God continued to increase” (v. 7; cf. 12:24; 19:20), and with the note that many priests became obedient to the faith, a detail found nowhere else in Acts.

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Commentary

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A Catholic Productions · Mass Readings Explained

Brant Pitre's walkthrough of this Sunday's Mass readings, including the choosing of the seven in Acts 6.

The Church's Mission in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Lesson 4 Agape Bible Study

A Catholic verse-by-verse study covering the Hellenist widows' complaint and the appointment of the seven in Acts 6:1-7.

Acts 6 Enduring Word

A verse-by-verse evangelical commentary on the dispute over daily distribution and the choosing of the seven.

Acts 6 Commentary Precept Austin

A study-note commentary collating multiple sources on the appointment of Stephen and his companions.

Acts 6:1 Commentaries BibleHub

A multi-commentary collation on the church's first organized diaconal ministry.

Acts 6 Commentary StudyLight

A verse-by-verse commentary on the growth of the Jerusalem church and the choosing of the seven.

Background & Word Study

Acts 6 Interlinear BibleHub

Greek interlinear text for word-level study of the appointment of the seven.

Acts BibleProject

An animated overview of Acts placing the church's early growth and its first ministers in context.

The Church Fathers

Acts 6 Catena Bible

Patristic comments on Acts 6 collected verse by verse from the early Church Fathers.

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