5th Sunday of Easter- Vine & Branches

 

 In Gospel today Jesus said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches.”

On the day we were baptized, we became attached to the vine and began to dwell within Jesus, who began to dwell within the temple of our heart. As baptized Christians, we remain in Jesus and Jesus remains in us by the things we do in life. Yet, we can also separate our self from Jesus, the vine in this life.

It’s not just a question of making our home in Jesus because it feels good. A branch which is connected to the vine bears fruit. He said “I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in Him, He it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.”

How is it we remain in Jesus? We draw grace (sap) from Jesus who give us grace to live Christian lives. We draw this sap from Jesus when we pray everyday, when come to Mass, when we adore Jesus during Eucharistic Adoration, and especially when we receive Holy Communion where (Jesus truly abides in us and we abide in Him). Also we draw sap from Jesus, the Vine, when we read the Bible and pray the Rosary.

When we pray the Rosary, we are coming in contact with the mysteries about the life of Jesus. For example, if we pray the Glorious mysteries of the Rosary, we see Jesus come out of the tomb and appear to the Apostles, we see Jesus ascend into heaven on a cloud, we are there in the upper room when the Holy Spirit comes down upon Mary and the Apostles in the form of wind and fire. We are at the tomb of the Virgin Mary, when Jesus comes down from heaven and brings Her with Him body and soul into heaven. Then we are in heaven, and become aware of the multitude of angels and saints gazing upon the Virgin Mary, as She is crowned queen of heaven and earth.

By meditating on the life and Jesus and Mary, we come in contact with the mysteries of our faith. We grow spiritually in faith, hope and love. The Rosary is a powerful way to gain access to God and be united to God through Mary.

Jesus is asking us to make our home in Him. And if we make our home with Him, we will live a holy and a virtuous life, we will do good deeds (which will be the fruit of our abiding life with Jesus). We can’t help but do good things, if we abide with Goodness itself. The branch bears fruit because of the goodness of the vine.

People who see how we live our life as Christians, by the good things we say and do, inspire others to want to be one of us.

In this life, we have to be careful so that we don’t cut our self off from the vine, by not abiding in Jesus. With all the seductions of this life, all the worldly things, and all the distractions, these things can cause us to be separated from Jesus, the Vine.

Jesus gave an explanation of what can happen if we separate our self from Him. He said, “If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.” He speaks of a fire, where a branch is thrown to be burned and when He speaks of this fire, Our Lord is speaking of hell, where the person is eternally separated from Him, because the person refused to abide in Him and not stay attached to Him, the Vine, in this life.

As branches, we are disciples of Christ, who cling to Jesus. We love Jesus. We abide with Jesus and Jesus then produces fruit by being attached to Him. A good way to renew our attachment to Jesus is to regularly give our self and our life to Jesus.

When we receive Holy Communion, we become one with Jesus. He abides in us and we abide in Him.

When we go home after Mass and when we live our life throughout the week, will we bear fruit for the kingdom of God? We have to remember “our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active; only by this can we be certain that we are the children of the truth…” Everyone around us should see Jesus abiding in us. They should see we are attached to the Vine and that the Vine is bearing fruit in our life.

If we go to PJ’s and are eating with friends who Catholic and non-Catholic, are the words that we speak edifying? Do they build up others or tear them down? Do we use dirty words in our expressions and make remarks that are not Christian?

In the second reading today from the First Letter of St. John. St John said, “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments. And His commandment is this: we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us. Those who keep His commandments remain in Him, and He in them, and this way we know that He remains in us-- is from the Spirit He gave us.”

By John’s words, we understand that if we keep His commandments we remain in Jesus and Jesus remains in us.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus Himself said, “This is my commandment love one another.” He also said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” As Christians, we are to constantly live our life in union with Jesus. If we sin, by not keeping His commandments, we separate our self from Him. If we give bad example, by our words, our actions or our deeds, we separating our self from the vine.

But, if we give good example, speak words of truth, and help others in need, it shows we are attached to Jesus.

We always have the opportunity of returning to the Lord by the sacrament of mercy in confession. When one has separated themselves from the Lord through serious sin, the person no longer abides in Jesus. They caused themselves to be cut off.

However, the beauty of the Resurrection of Jesus is that even if a branch should die and be cut off from the vine, it can be given life, and be grafted back on to the Vine and become a very fruitful branch.

Today, we turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and ask Her to help us to remain in Jesus, Her Son, so that if we remain in Him in this life, we will abide with Him forever in the glory of heaven.

Homily partially taken from Fr. Tommy Lane