May 10, 2009 Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 9:26-31; 1 Jn. 3:18-24; Jn. 15:1-8 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/051009.shtml                ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     The vine is one of the most powerful biblical images for God’s relation to the people. Israel is the vine “brought out of Egypt,” and a choice vine planted by God. She is also a vineyard planted and tended by God. Jesus builds on this image by calling himself the “true” vine and his Father the vine grower. This image is profound, since the vine and the branches are often virtually indistinguishable, and since there is a mutual interchange of life between them.   Discipleship in John begins with brief “abiding” with Jesus, walks the walk of his life and culminates in the symbol of the branches abiding in the vine. The union between Christ and the believer is vividly described by Paul and John. Paul speaks over 160 times of being “in Christ” and uses the metaphor of the body: “All the members of the body, though many are one body; so it is with Christ.” But John’s metaphor suggests a more intimate union. “Unlike Paul’s image of the body and its members which is invoked in 1 Corinthians 12 to accommodate the multitude of charisms, John’s image of the vine and the branches places emphasis on only one issue: dwelling on the vine or inherence in Jesus.” Such a close union between Jesus and the believer is not the privileged experience of saints and mystics alone; for John it is the core of Christian life.   The vine must be both nurtured and pruned, symbolizing perhaps the inevitable suffering of the disciples in imitation of Jesus. Jesus’ abiding presence is not static but must be nurtured, and it can wither.   The Easter season celebrates the abiding presence of the risen Christ. John provides us with a profound challenge - to stop, to “abide” with Jesus, to realize God’s presence. Often I think of two human analogies to John’s “abiding”: one from life in its fullness and one from early life on the brink of growth.   If the life of Jesus flows through our “veins,” we will “bear much fruit.” We will indeed shine forth in our world as a community called together and enlivened by the power of the resurrection. We will be a reconciling community, open to others and able to show the world that reconciliation with our enemies is possible. We will be a community bound to one another by love and able to bring genuine love to a world eaten away by hatred.     <<   Previous: Fourth Sunday of Easter  | Next: Sixth Sunday of Easter >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)