When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus. The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 22: 26-28, 30-32)
Refrain: I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
1) I will fulfill my vows before those who fear the Lord. The lowly shall eat their fill;
They who seek the Lord shall praise him: "May your hearts live forever!" (Refrain)
2) All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
All of the families of the nations shall bow down before him. (Refrain)
3) To him alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth;
Before him shall bend all who go down into the dust. (Refrain)
4) And to him my soul shall live; my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the Lord that they may proclaim to people yet to be born
the justice he has shown. (Refrain)
Second Reading (1 John 3: 18-24)
Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.
Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 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. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
(Copyright 1970, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2001 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Copyright 1970, 1997, 1998 Contraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
The English translation of some Psalm responses, some Alleluia and Gospel verses and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, some Summaries, and the Titles and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass copyright 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc., Washington D.C. All rights reserved.
The poetic English translation of the sequences of the Roman Missal are taken from the Roman Missal approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States, copyright 1964 by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission of ICEL.)
Telling Stories, Compelling Stories, by William J. Bausch, pp. 63-68. Twenty-third Publications, Mystic, CT. 06355: 1991.
Days of the Lord, Volume 3, pp. 162-169. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN., 1993.
The Gospel of John, Volume 2, by William Barclay, pp. 172-176. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA. 1975.
The Cultural World of Jesus, by John J. Pilch, pp. 79-81. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN 1996.
The Word Encountered, by John F. Kavanaugh, pp. 61-64. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY 1996.
Catechism: #771-801.
In comparing himself to a vine in today's gospel reading, our Lord is working with an image which was a very familiar one to the Israelite nation. Over and over again in the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel is referred to as the vine or vineyard of the Lord. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and the Psalms all draw this analogy at some point. This comparison had been drawn so often that the vine had become the symbol of the Jewish nation and was even the emblem which was stamped on the coins of the Maccabees.
However, when the symbol of the vine is used in the scriptures, it is invariably linked to the idea of the degeneration of the vine. Isaiah and Jeremiah both berate the people for not obeying the word of God and for falling from the high moral standards which God had set for them. In essence, the vine has grown wild and is in desperate need of pruning or cleansing. The Jews believed that their Jewish heritage would be enough to save them. But Jesus is saying that the only thing that can save them is to be joined to him. Jesus was setting forth the principal that the way to salvation was through faith in him, and not Jewish blood.
Now the vine is a plant that is grown all over Palestine, as it still is today. But it is a plant that requires careful attention if it is to yield the best fruit. First of all, the soil must be prepared and be constantly mulched and fertilized in order for it to flourish. It is like the Israelites, who needed constant reminders from the prophets to follow the commandments or they would stray from them and worship false gods. Then, once growing, it needs constant pruning, because it bears two kinds of branches: one that bears fruit and one that does not. The branches that do not bear fruit have to removed so that they do not sap the plant's energy.
The useless branches can be compared to the seed that fell on the ground of which our Lord speaks in the parable of the sower. These useless branches fall into three categories: 1) there are the dead branches who are those who refuse to follow Christ's commands; 2) there are the green branches which do not bear any fruit. They are the ones who listen to him and say they follow him, but who do not put their faith into action. And 3) there are those branches which begin to bear fruit but whose fruit withers up and dies during the heat of day or from a lack of moisture. They are the ones who accept him, but who desert him whenever difficulties arise or who find his commands too difficult to follow. Jesus says that, once cut off from him, there is no way for them to attain salvation.
We often say that you can get to know someone by the company they keep. If they stay with a positive crowd, then they will do good. If they hang out with a bad crowd, then they will probably do no good, for they will absorb and mirror the values of the group. So it is with Jesus. If we remain with him, then we will do good, but apart from him, we can do nothing and will certainly perish. The way we remain in him is through prayer. Even Jesus withdrew by himself from time to time to pray to his Father. We must do no less.
Our Lord says in this passage that the fruitful branch does two good things with his life: first of all, he enriches his own life by his contact with Jesus; and 2) he brings glory to the Father. The greatest glory of the Christian's life is to bring glory to God through their life and their conduct. I feel blessed to be able to share with you the insights that God has given me, to be his instrument in touching the hearts of others. But Jesus must be at the center.
- Mark Link tells a story entitled "The Nut That Saved Our Marriage." Now you can't read a title like that and not wonder who that nut was. Perhaps it might be a husband who had a sense of humor that defused situations before they got explosive. Or perhaps it might be one of their children who did something funny to make the couple laugh when situations got tense. Or it might even be a friend who made them see how silly it was to focus on the bad points each had, when they both had so many good points. Well, the answer was none of the above. One day the author was having lunch with her husband and their son, Mike, at their Los Angeles home. Mike was a navy helicopter pilot who was visiting from San Diego. At one point during the lunch, Mike and his father began talking about the helicopter that Mike flew. Mike said: "You know, Dad, as complicated as that helicopter is, its whirling rotor is held in place by a single hexagonal nut." Then turning to his mother, Mike said, And, Mom, do you know what they call that nut?" His mother shrugged. She had no idea what they called it. "I give up," she said, "What do they call the nut that holds it all together?" Mike smiled and said, "They call it the 'Jesus' nut." (1)
In our gospel reading, Jesus says: "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." If our marriage or our family is in trouble, maybe it's because we have forgotten about the nut that God destined to hold it all together. Maybe we have forgotten about Jesus. Maybe we have left Jesus out. Maybe we haven't invited Jesus into our marriage or into our home. Our personal relationships with others in our families and our jobs are very complicated and can easily go wrong. They are like the vine: they need constant care and attention or they will grow wild. These relationships need to be rooted in Christ and the commands he has given us. They need to be rooted in the example of love and forgiveness that he has given us.
It is significant that almost every time that Jesus was invited into a home in gospel times, he worked a miracle for those who lived there. For example,
- when the newlyweds invited Jesus into their home, he changed water into wine.
- When Peter invited Jesus into his home, Jesus cured his mother-in-law.
- When a Roman centurion invited Jesus into his home, Jesus healed his servant.
- When Mary and Martha invited Jesus into their home, he raised their brother from the dead.
- When Jairus invited Jesus into his home, Jesus restored his daughter to life.
So if we invited Jesus into our home, wouldn't he do the same for us? The answer to that question is clear. If our marriage, our family or our personal life is in trouble, maybe it's because we've left Jesus out.
Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Without him, our lives would fall apart. Our lives need to be rooted in him. Like the Israelites, if we are not rooted in him, then our lives will degenerate and stray from the good path because we are weak human beings, subject to temptations. If we are rooted in him, then we will be rooted in love, because God is love. But that's for next week's homily. In the meantime, consider that Jesus could very well be the nut missing from our lives, the one nut that could put us back together.
1. The Nut That Saved Our Marriage. Reprinted with permission from Illustrated Sunday Homilies, Year B, Series II by Mark Link, S.J., pp. 37-38.
(Copyright 2015 by the Spirit through Deacon Sil Galvan, with a little help from the friends noted above. Permission is freely granted for use, in whole or in part, in oral presentations. For permission to use in writing, please contact the human intermediary at deaconsil@comcast.net.)
Lord Jesus, you have taught us that we can do nothing if we are separated from you. Lord, have mercy.
Christ Jesus, you have taught us that only through you can we bear much fruit. Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you are the true vine, the source of our life. Lord, have mercy.
The Mass is ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and make Christ's words active in our lives.
Celebrant: We have been reminded in today's gospel and second reading that if we keep the commandments which Christ has given us, God will be with us and grant us whatever we ask. Therefore, knowing that God will hear us, we can confidently bring our prayers and petitions to the Father.
Deacon/Lector: Our response is "Lord, hear our prayer."
That the leaders of the Church will carefully tend the vine which Christ has planted, we pray to the Lord.
That the leaders of the nations of the world will do all in their power to bring peace on earth and end the wars in Ukraine and Israel, we pray to the Lord.
That the sick, those who are terminally ill, those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, and all who have been tempted to separate themselves from Christ, may find renewed strength in their faith, we pray to the Lord.
That all of those whom we have welcomed into the Church at Easter will be a sign of Christ's continued presence among us, we pray to the Lord.
That all of our brothers and sisters will be treated as our equals in the sight of God regardless of their race, color, nationality or religion, we pray to the Lord.
For all of the intentions we hold in our hearts and which we now recall in silence. (Pause) For all of these intentions, we pray to the Lord.
Celebrant: Merciful Father, your Son has taught us to abide in him as he abides in you. Grant us the grace of your Spirit to be fruitful branches of his vine, the Church. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.