by Fr. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.
May 2, 2021
Fifth Sunday of Easter (B)
Acts 9: 26-31 / Psalm 22: 26-28, 30-32 /
1 John 3: 18-24 / John 15: 1-8
THIS MAN IS LIFE’S CENTERSTAGE
Word: Like last Sunday, we hear today Jesus telling us WHO he is. When a revelation of Jesus begins with these solemn words, “I am”, we listen with rapt attention: this man, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, dares to use the divine Name, “I Am Who I Am”, to tell us what he himself is conscious about himself.
In today’s gospel, Jesus is conscious of being the true vine (Jn 15:8a). This, already, is the most daring assertion, as the first listeners of Jesus understand it. For in the entire Bible, the image of “the vine” represents “the people of Israel”.
And now, this Jesus speaking as if his words were quite natural and indeed self-evident, is bold enough to assume for himself the place of “the entire people of Israel”. He applies to his own person what was said of Israel. Jesus dares to say that he is the true vine, as if the other was only a kind of sketch, of preparation, of “figure”. The ancient Israel was only a preparation of “the New Israel”—the new people of God that the Church is.
Beside, this is not the first time that Jesus utters this unheard-of-claim. He has already said that he is the true bread of life, in opposition to the manna (Cf. Jn 6), and the true shepherd (Jn 10), in opposition to the false and mercenary shepherds.
Jesus does not stop here. He goes farther by saying and my Father is the vine grower (Jn 15:1b). Indeed, a real revolution in the history of the relationship of man with God. Why a revolution? Because in the many texts we have of ancient Jewish literature, we do not find the word “Abba” applied to God even once in any prayer formula, whether liturgical or private. In his lifetime however, it seems sure that Jesus constantly called God “Abba”, the Aramaic word for present day “papa” or “daddy” or “tatay”, a hardly virile and rather childish language to express tender love. And now Jesus claims that the vine grower, understood by the Israelites as God, is his own Father.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit (Jn 15:2). The comparison of the vine grower is very realistic. During winter, he cuts off all the dead wood and throws it into the fire; he trims a part of the good wood, that the sap may be more concentrated and the stock yield more and better fruits. A vine that is not pruned comes to the point of yielding only leaves. When the vine is pruned, the workers say that it “seeps”—an abundant sap is flowing until the scar in the wood closes. In the same way do our hearts “weep” under trials, when we are faced with suffering.
Anyone who witnesses a vineyard being pruned, is surprised at the amount of branches that are “sacrificed”, that the stock may give “more”! Anyone ignorant of vine growing, more so of vine dressing, might be tempted to criticize the worker, “Man, why you take away so many branches? Why do you make your vine ‘bleed’?”
Jesus, the true vine loved by the Father, was the first to be “pruned”. The tree of the cross, apparently wrecked, but bearing more fruits.
o0o
Order: This is the image too, of the work of God in the Church and in ourselves. God prunes. God purifies. God cleanses. It is painful. But this is the law of life, that the final vintage maybe excellent! A challenge: expect to be pruned.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you (Jn 15:3). Furthermore, instead of merely submitting to the ‘pruning’, the believer who listens to the word of Jesus discovers the fruitfulness of purification. Indeed, whoever realizes that he or she is cleansed in the following of Jesus, may find a meaning in his or her trials.
o0o
Realities: 1. During the war some visitors were making the rounds of a military hospital trying to cheer up the patients. One cheerful lady stopped at the bed of a young lad just back from the front and asked, “Where did you lose your arm?” “I didn’t lose it,” he said. “I gave it.”
(Quote, Personal Sacrifices)
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2. A devoted father was ushered into the hospital room where his seven- year-old son was near death’s door from an incurable disease. The lad seemed to sense that he would not get well.
He said, “Dad, am I going to die?”
“Why do you ask, son? Are you afraid to die?” Looking up with trusting eyes, the boy replied, “Not if God is like you, Daddy.” (Tonne, Fatherhood)
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3 Saints and holy people give God credit for having as much of a plot in their lives as writers do in their books and movies.
Whenever we watch a thriller, or read one, we are not disturbed or upset if everything seems to be going against the hero in the first half of the story. We know beforehand that it is all going to turn out alright in the end. The more problems there are in the story, the more hindrances and sufferings, the better the plot is. And, in the end, it all does get solved …
God has as much talent as any writer of hair-raising stories. He knows exactly what He is doing in our lives. He knows exactly why He does things. They all have a good purpose … (Frank Mihalic, God’s Plot In Our Lives)
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4. Here’s a story and a reflection which may help us picture concrete situations many of us are facing to: “Emperor Charles V asked his dying servant who had served him so devoutly of anything he desires before he dies. The dying man asked if he could give him one more day of life. The Emperor answered that only God can grant and sustain the gift of life. Then the dying man said: ‘Then it is plain to me that I was foolish in not spending more time on the service of God than in serving an earthly king.’ When I read this, I realized that life is short and the kind of life worth living is a life spent in choosing God in all circumstances. God must always be my point of reference. My life must count for him.” (Lulu P., Didache, May 21, 2000).
o0oDirection: Teach us, O Father, how to ask you each moment silently for your help. If we fail, teach us at once to ask you to forgive us. If we are disquieted, enable us, by your grace, quickly to turn to you. May nothing come between us and you. May we will, do, and say just what you, our living and tender Father, will us to will, do, and say. Work your holy will in us, and through us, this day. Protect us, guide us, bless us within and without – that we may do this day for love of you; and that we may this evening be nearer to you, though we see it not, nor know it. (Prayer for Union with God through the Day. (Edward B. Pusey <1800-1882> Theologian and Leader of the Oxford Movement)