BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 25)
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B – May 18, 2003
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 9:26-32 // I Jn 3:18-24 // Jn 15:1-8
I love raisins. When I was a little girl, I would often yearn for that familiar red box with the smiling girl in a bonnet containing SUN-MAID raisins from California. The natural goodness and delightful sweetness of the raisins made my mouth water. If sun-dried raisins are good, the fresh grapes from the vine are even better. Every time I hold a bunch of grapes, my heart is filled with praise and thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord. Each little grape is a symbol of the fruitfulness of the vine and reminds me of the life-giving lymph that flows from the stem, to the branches, to the leaves, and to the fruit. Our convent here in Fresno is bordered by a neighbor’s vineyard. I consider myself lucky that I have a chance to contemplate daily a well-tended vineyard, with pruned branches sprouting new leaves and eventually, abundant fruit hanging from the vine. Indeed, seeing thick bunches of luscious grapes clinging firmly to the vine enables me to understand better the allegory that the evangelist John presents in this Sunday’s Gospel reading: Jesus the Vine, the Disciples the Branches (cf. Jn 15:1-8).
The symbol of the vine and vineyard is well known to the Jews. Several Old Testament passages see Israel both as God’s vine (cf. Ps 80:8-16), the object of his loving care, and as the vineyard of God (cf. Is 5:1-7). The evangelist John, in presenting Jesus as the “true vine”, delineates the idea that Christ supersedes the Old Testament reality. According to Louis Bouyer: “In Saint John’s Gospel, by identifying himself with the true vine, Jesus proclaims that the true Israel is in him, and only those united with him can form a part of it.” Old Testament traditions speak of pruning fruitless vines (cf. Jer 5:10; Ez 17:7). John’s reference to the unfortunate destiny of the unfruitful vines (cf. Jn 15:2) may have been a warning to “fallen off” Christians who attempted to hide their faith under persecution.
The main interest, however, of the allegory of the vine and the branches presented in John’s Gospel is to underline the necessity of the close union between the Lord and his disciples. When Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches” (Jn 15:5), he was declaring his intimate oneness and personal relationship with his disciples. The disciples needed to be integrated with him as the source of life and the living principle of unity for the entire organism. Since Christ is the source of life, the disciples cannot bear fruit unless they remain organically united with him. When Jesus remains in them through indwelling, and they remain in Jesus through love, then they bear abundant fruit. According to Adrian Nocent: “There is, then, an exchange of love between Christ and each member of the Church, and between each member of the Church and the other members who are united to Christ.”
The disciples who abide in Jesus need to bring forth abundant fruit. And God prunes and purifies the fruitful ones so that they can become even more fruitful. The painful process of pruning the vines is necessary for a fruitful harvest. In the same way that Jesus, the “true vine” has been “pruned” in the paschal process of passion and death that led to his glorification, so must the disciples of Jesus, as vibrant branches remaining in the “true vine”, undergo the cleansing power of the “living Word” and the pruning process of the Cross. According to Teresa Okure: “There can be no stunted disciples of Jesus. The more one is alive and vibrant in the vine, the more one will need to be pruned.”
A. Do I allow Christ to abide in me? Do I abide in Christ?
B. Am I fruitful? What is the fruit of my union with Christ who dwells in me?
C. Do I willingly submit myself to the pruning and cleansing action of the “vinedresser”?
(Cf. Psalm Prayer after Psalm 80 in The Liturgy of the Hours, Morning Prayer, Thursday, Week II)
Leader: Lord God, eternal shepherd,
you so tend the vineyard you planted
that now it extends its branches even to the farthest coast.
Look down on your Church and come to us.
Help us remain in your Son as branches on the vine,
that, planted firmly in your love,
we may testify before the whole world
to your great power working everywhere.
You live forever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“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.” (Jn 15:5)
A. ACTION PLAN: When you drink the wine from the cup at the table of the Eucharist, be very grateful for the source of this life-giving gift, Jesus Christ, the “true vine” onto which we are grafted.
B. ACTION PLAN: As a way of transmitting God’s comfort and joy, send a basket of fruit to a family/person who needs moral, spiritual and material support.