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Fifth Sunday of Easter (B) Dr. Terrance Callan
Acts 9:26-31
It is certainly understandable that we want to hold on to the good things we have, especially if we have only recently received them or have acquired them with difficulty. But holding on to something often leads to losing it, while, paradoxically, giving something away allows us to retain it. The reading from the gospel according to John is taken from Jesus’ long farewell discourse to his disciples at the Last Supper. In this passage Jesus speaks of what it means to be his follower using the image of the vine. He is the vine; we, his disciples, are branches on the vine, drawing our life from him. But in order to remain attached to the vine and not be thrown out, it is necessary that we bear fruit. We cannot simply hold on to the life we receive from Jesus; we must let it flow through us and produce fruit. The reading from the first letter of John says something similar. We not only need to believe in Jesus, to be committed to the truth; we also need to love one another in deed and in truth. As the reading says, this is our way of knowing that we really are committed to the truth. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is yet another expression of this theme that faith must be put into action. In this reading we hear about how Paul preached the gospel to all after his conversion. We are not all called to put our faith into action by becoming missionaries in exactly the way Paul did. But we are called to share the good news we have heard in the way appropriate to our circumstances. These readings also warn us that producing fruit is not easy. In the reading from Acts we hear that at first the Christians refused to believe that Paul had really joined them. And even after Barnabas convinced the other Christians that Paul had undergone a conversion, Paul was still rejected by those to whom he preached the gospel. Their hostility was so great that Paul had to leave town. The reading from the first letter of John speaks of another sort of difficulty. It says that despite our faith in Jesus and our effort to love in deed and truth, our consciences may charge us with something. We may easily feel that we have not done enough, or done the right things, in order to have lived well. But the reading tells us that if we have faith in Jesus and love one another, we can be assured that we are at peace with God. The gospel reading puts these difficulties we encounter as Christians into perspective. It suggests that rejection by others and our own uncertainties can be seen as pruning that is designed to increase our fruitfulness. If we look at our difficulties this way, then we can scrutinize them for some positive contribution to our life in Christ, not merely suffer them. |
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