"REMAIN IN ME..."
April 28, 2024.
Fifth Sunday of Easter – B.
“I am the vine, you are the branches.” Jn 15:5
A Dutch proverb says: “The strength of a tree lies in its
roots, not in its branches.” A Sicilian proverb adds: “If the tree doesn't bear
fruit, cut it off at the base.”
While celebrating the Good Shepherd Sunday last Sunday, an
emphasis was put on Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation, the only name
in whom and through whom we are saved. Peter made it clear to the people:
"There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name
under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved." Jesus
alone, we said. For he alone is the Good Shepherd, the one able to lay down his
life for us, his sheep.
Today's readings, mostly the 2nd Reading and the Gospel,
continue on the centrality of Jesus. The Lord makes another categoric claim and
insists on our need to be with him if we wish to live and have life in us.
Because Christian life is a life with Christ, away from him,
there is no life. Just as away from the tree, the branches dry up and die, so
too, the life without Christ. He is the tree of our life, the tree of
salvation.
"By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear
much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear
"the fruit of the Spirit: ... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." "We live by the
Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the
Spirit." Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to
the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God
"Father" and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and
given a share in eternal glory." CCC 736
Our vocation, our true calling, is to be with Christ, to
live in Christ, and to imitate and share the life of Christ.
Looking closely and meditating on today's Gospel, one can
feel the insistence of the Lord for us to be and to remain with him and in him.
Eight times, the expression "Remain in..." is used. The number eight
is not accidental but meaningful. It tells us that we can only reach the
perfection of life by remaining in the Lord and the Lord in us. The image is
quite clear, the vine and the branches. Jesus claims: "I am the vine, you
are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.
To remain in the Lord is a way of life and perfection. For,
it opens us to make the Lord our priority and live by him and for him, just
like branches live by the tree.
The Lord Jesus speaks to his disciples about fruit-bearing,
loving, suffering, and witnessing. The symbols used here are expressive: the
Vine. Jesus himself is the Vine of life, the tree of salvation. His Father is
the owner and the only gardener. He is the one who dictates his will to be
followed. And finally, we, believers, are the branches. Our faith attaches us
to Jesus and gives us life in him.
The steps for us to have abundant and meaningful life are to
submit to God's will and to accept to be pruned by the Father. This may require
great sacrifices and even lead to suffering. But a branch can only survive and
bear fruit through that. And besides, we must abide in the Son, that is, make
his will ours. As a consequence of these actions, comes success, bountiful
fruit, and the glorification of God the Father.
We cannot live our Christian life without Christ. As someone
said, Christian life without Christ is a crisis. A life without Christ is full
of lies: we see people today live fake lives to show who they are not. People
run from pillar to post these days looking for a way out of their pains and
sorrows. They seek direction from astrologers, mind readers, yoga, zumba… They
have not been able to find a way out because Christ the Way is missing. For,
without Christ, life is without hope, direction, ambition, and aim, full of
hunger, thirst, and darkness. Life itself becomes a bondage and ends in
lifelessness. As will say Jesus in the Gospel, “Apart from me you can do
nothing.” Apart from him, we are alienated. Apart from him, there is no hope.
Apart from him, we are walking through life without God. Apart from him, we can
do nothing. Nothing to save us. Nothing to redeem ourselves. Nothing to right
our own wrongs. Our only option is to remain in him if we wish to live and have
a fruitful life.
Many situations and happenings in life tell the truth of
this assertion. Look around and see how hopeless is the life of many people.
Some rely on materials, but it can save them. Some others on power, but nothing
can it bring them when the last hour comes. Many others rely on pleasure, but
they end up eternal-unsatisfied. Only Jesus is the option, the answer, and the
solution for a meaningful and fruitful life. "Just as a branch cannot bear
fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you
remain in me."
In this Easter season, we are told about our need for
Christ. He died on the Cross so that we may have life through his death.
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