5TH SUNDAY OF EASTER
This weekend we celebrate the 5th Sunday of easter as we continue to come out of the COVID19 restrictions. As we get back to Normal we shouldn’t forget all the places in the world who are still battling the COVID pandemic. In particular we pray for the people of India who are being hit hard with the virus as well as many countries throughout the world. In our Gospel reading we hear the story of the vine and the vinedresser of course Jesus is the vine and the Father is the vine dresser and the fruit of the vine that we are hearing about is our faith. The noise that the pruning shears make do not sound very pleasant, in fact, it sounds quite stark, threatening and maybe painful. I think that I would be saying keep the vinedresser from my door in case he cuts me down . From the time of Moses, the Hebrew people thought of their nation as the vine that God had taken from Egypt and transplanted into Palestine. There in the fertile valleys and plateaus the nation thrived and grew, as does a vine that is well tended. When we believe in Jesus Christ, partake of his mysteries, and keep his commandments, the Saviour himself comes to live in us, his Father and his brethren, become our Father and our brethren. His person through the Spirit, becomes, the living and interior rule of all we do and say.
The branches exist to draw life from the vine so as to bear fruit. Failing to do so they are useless: cut down, thrown out, good only for fuelling the flames of a fire. So that we may live as fruitful branches in union with Christ, the true vine, he has given us the faith we profess as members of the Church, his true body in the world. Our Lord warns us, as he warned his first followers, to abide in him, that means that we should remain closely united with him, as the branch is joined to the vine. He promises us that if we remain closely united to him, by keeping his commandments he will be ever ready to answer our requests, and to listen our prayers. Let us take courage. Jesus also tells us “Without me you can do nothing,”. But we know that with him we can do everything. If we remain with him, we can ask anything of the Father and it will be given to us. While we remain healthy branches of the vine, we will be on the road to heaven. Our daily tasks, our work as well as our prayer, our recreation as well as our rest, our joys as well as our sorrows, all of them will give glory to God and prove that we are worthy to be called disciples of the Lord. So the main question for us today is are we going to remain close to Jesus?
The story of the Vinedresser is our call to remain closely united with Jesus, as the branch is united to the vine. Or will we be cut down by the vinedresser and thrown on the fire or the rubbish heap. I would hope that all of us will remain united to the vine so that we will bear much fruit so the world will know that we follow Jesus by all we say and do.
Fullerton T 