02/05/2021
Homily Padre Pio (Nwankwo, CMF +254720243644).
*SPIRITUAL FOOD FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY OF EASTER, MAY 2, 2021.*
Acts 9:26-31. Ps 22:26-28, 30-32. 1 John 3:18-24. John 15:1-8
*BEING CONNECTED & PRUNED BY THE MASTER!*
*There is a hilarious story about St. Teresa of Avila or St. Teresa of Jesus on how our Lord prunes and treats his beloved servants and saints (this will help Christians, especially those who complain a lot.) One day St. Teresa and her companions set out on a journey to establish another convent in Burgos and Grenada. Teresa describes the journey thus: “We had to run many dangers. At no part of the road were the risks greater than within a few leagues of Burgos, at a place called Los Pontes. The rivers were so high that the water in places covered everything, neither road nor the smallest footpath could be seen, only water everywhere, and two abysses on each side. It seemed foolhardiness to advance, especially in a carriage, for if one strayed ever so little off the road (then invisible), one must have perished.” Apparently, while trying to cross she slipped down an embankment and fell squarely into the mud. In fact, the current was so strong that she was on the verge of being carried away. When Teresa complained about the constant trials in her life, and why she was allowed to fall into the mud since she was going to do the work of the Lord. The Lord replied: “Do not complain, daughter, for it is ever thus that I treat My friends.” The witty Saint responded with her typical sense of humour thus while looking up to heaven: "If this is how You treat Your friends, no wonder why You have so few of them!" The Gospel reading of today presents us with the beautiful image of the Vine. Here Jesus makes the claim that He is the True Vine in a similar manner to last Sunday’s Good Shepherd. Jesus is the True Vine, God the Father is the Vine Grower, and we Christians are the branches that MUST be pruned to bear fruits, and the useless branches are those that do not bear fruit, they are cut and thrown into the fire. For the Vine to be fruitful, the branches must be pruned according to times and seasons. By this imagery, Jesus wants to show us in concrete manner the relationship that should exist between Him and his disciples. He is the true Vine since the old vine, the house of Israel has been succeeded by the New Vine, the mystical body of Christ-Church with Jesus as the Head! In line with our story above wherein Jesus permitted the saint to fall into the muddy water, Jesus prunes, purifies and strengthens us by enabling us to face with courage of our Christian convictions the pain and suffering, contradictions and difficulties which He permits to enter our lives.*
*MAKING OUR HOME IN JESUS! “A branch cannot bear fruit all by itself but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4). Jesus invites us in the Gospel to make our home in Him and nowhere is this invitation so true, than to look towards the saints who had succeeded in making their home in Jesus! The lives of the saints exemplified this invitation of Jesus in all ramifications. In their lives, we see that spiritual fruitfulness came from the different sacrifices which they underwent for Christ and for the faith. They suffered a lot and some of them were killed. Making our home in Jesus means that we cannot do anything without “consulting” Him since He supplies us with the needed grace and strength to accomplish anything. Such total dependence is an act faith which is pleasing to God. Some of the ways through which we can make our home in Jesus is through the Holy Eucharist and other Sacraments, the Word, Good works and good lives, etc. and through this we bear fruits and these fruits are not supposed to remain with us! Bearing fruits of kindness, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, etc. Barnabas in the First Reading showed forth the fruit of love and kindness and extended a hand of friendship to the newly converted Paul who was doubted by all. The sincerity of his conversion was put to question because of his past life. However, Barnabas acted as a bridge to bring him closer to the apostles and disciples and he was eventually accepted. Paul would later on become a great missionary to the Gentiles, but Barnabas played a pivotal role through his abiding in the True Vine. Moreover, the whole episode of Paul’s conversion and his return to Tarsus was the act of pruning by our Lord Jesus for this apostle of his, to bear fruit more abundantly especially among the Gentiles. St. Ignatius of Loyola reminds us that: “If God sends you many sufferings, it is a sign that He has great plans for you and certainly wants to make you a saint”.*
*REMAINING IN THE LORD! “Remain in me, as I remain in you. 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. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing”. (John 15:4-5). Remaining in Jesus as branches of the Vine means that the sap and nutrients of the vine must pass through us (the branches) to make us bear fruits abundantly. Similarly, in order to qualify as a true Christian, we must remain in Jesus. His Word must pass through us, we must be soaked-up with his Word, in fact we must “eat” his Word so that our whole is made up of his Word. Our thinking is conditioned by his Word and our lifestyle is guided by his Word. It is also having a deeper relationship with Jesus and this relationship affects our everyday living. These are the different meanings of remaining or abiding in the vine so as to become one with the vine.*
*WE NEED DAILY PRUNING IN OUR LIVES: Many times, we lament and ask ourselves why is there evil in the world. Why can’t God wipe out the evils in the world, and many other “whys”. We ask these questions because we forget a salient point in our relationship with Jesus which the Gospel of today pointed out to us. We are the branches of the Vine. Jesus is the True Vine and we are the branches! Dear child of God, by being the branches of the True Vine, Jesus had commissioned all Christians to continue in the good works he had started. Thus, if we see evils in the world as we do now, it is because we are not doing enough good to counteract the evils in the world. That is, we are not bearing fruit as branches of the True Vine. Put differently, we are the earthly body of Jesus. IF THE BRANCHES DO NOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT, OR ENOUGH GOOD FRUIT, EVIL HAS ROOM TO GROW AND KEEP ON GOING. St. Teresa of Avila puts it well when she said that Jesus died, rose and ascended to the Father, now the hands, legs, heart, etc. that Jesus needs to minister to others in the world are OUR hands, legs, hearts, etc. Let us be connected to Jesus and allow God the Father to prune us so as to bear good fruits, as we saw in the first reading. Pope Francis gave beautiful interrogatives on this part of the Gospel thus: “A beautiful question for us Christians is this: do I abide in Jesus or am I far from Jesus? Am I united to the vine that gives me life or am I a dead branch, that is incapable of bearing fruit, giving witness?” Dear child of God, there is also the Eucharistic signification of this text, if we consider the context of the Gospel. This discourse came after the Last Supper wherein the disciples had partaken of his body and blood in the form of bread and wine, thus the closest possible union and abiding with the Lord is achieved through this sacrament. Small wonder, the word “abide” appears eight times in these eight verses. May the grace of the Holy Eucharist make us continue to abide in Jesus, while He prunes us daily like our story above to make us fruitful always for our own sanctification and the sanctification of the whole world. JOKE OF THE WEEK: A man was going to a costume party dressed as the Devil – red suit, pointy tail and pitchfork. As he walked it began to rain and he looked for shelter. The only place was a little country church, so in he went. It just so happened they were holding a revival meeting that night. When people turned and saw the “Devil”, they dived for the exits. One poor fellow’s coat got caught on a pew. As the man in the costume approached, he turned and cried “Mr. Devil, I’ve been a member of this church for 30 years, but I’ve been on your side all along.” HAPPY SUNDAY AND NEW MONTH OF MAY-THE MONTH OF MARY! (MAY=MARY AND YOU)! HONOUR BY PRAYING THE HOLY ROSARY. Do have a blessed week +. Blessings to you and to your family. PRAY YOUR ROSARY DAILY. Please do say a prayer for me as I uplift you in my prayers too. “A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON AND THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN IS A LIFE OF WARFARE”.
