5th Sunday of Easter: Acts 9:26-31, 1 Jn 3:18-24, Jn 15:1-8 The Gospel this weekend is this: Jn 15:1-8 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. 3 You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. The first reading is this: Acts 9:26-31 When Paul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. 27 Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how on the way 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. 28 He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, * but they tried to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus. 31 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. The second reading is this: 1 Jn 3:18-24 Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. 19 Now this is how we shall know that we * belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him 20 in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 21 Beloved, if (our) hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God 22 and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 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. 24 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 that he gave us. MEDITATION: This week Christ says that he is 'the true vine' hoping for us to be 'well connected' with him and thereby bearing 'good fruit'. Wine appears frequently in the Gospel (wedding at Cana Jn 2, this Sunday Jn 15, and the Last Supper Lk 22 etc). I mention how God gives us good things, but we choose whether we’re going to use them well or not. Anyone with a 'hangover’ will understand! Think of the family of an alcoholic or a person in a car accident, caused by a drunk driver, or someone who has suffered in a nightclub because of alcohol (fights, abuse, etc.). That all symbolizes our very lives. They can be good or bad. It depends on how we ourselves choose to live. It is also true that things which annoy at first may give much joy afterwards. The Christian road goes there. Jesus describes his following as a yoke or hard path, but adds "My yoke is easy and my burden light". I have tried to avoid wealth, honours, pleasures (and clubs with alcohol!) since the beginning of my vocation, but the wonderful thing is that I feel much richer and enjoy every day. Even multiple sclerosis can’t rob me of this! All can live freely. A gardener can graft a twig from one tree into the trunk of another, but our union with Christ can be even deeper: our life is rooted in Him. That’s true since our baptism, but the problem is that sometimes we disconnect and choose other paths. This Sunday calls us to renew our fundamental option (such as the renewal of baptismal promises every Easter). Using my keyboard here, I remember the nuisance one day when the electricity cut-of before I had saved what I had written. Like machines need electricity, we all need to be plugged into Christ! Life itself comes from Him. We listen to the readings at mass, but that may be tiny compared to the time we spend watching television or reading newspapers. And of course, the connection with Christ involves sitting down and spending some time meditating on what we have heard. Jesus says in the sermon on the mount that we should enter into our 'private room': "When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray with your father in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you" (Mt 6:6). Prayer is not a question of receiving a list of instructions, but of illuminating the mind and heart about our lives. If we intend to share with others the thoughts that we recieve in our prayer, we will probably receive more light than if praying only for ourselves. Even the patron saint of the missions, St Teresa of Lisieux, a contemplative nun who used not leave never left her convent, wrote a little book which helped many people, including me! If the mind and the heart are well grafted in Christ, surprises may arise! Reflecting well on the word of God leads us to the challenge of transforming our lives. Jesus speaks today of ‘pruning the vine’. The first reading of Acts tells of the surprise of the early Christians in Jerusalem when they saw the change in Saul (later called Paul). The persecutor of Christians got well pruned! The reading tells of him struggling a lot with the Hellenists (Greeks). They represent a people quite advanced in philosophy, science and intellectual culture. But that does not mean that they were smarter. Paul, united in Christ, shows another kind of intelligence… the most intelligent is the one that most loves. The advances in science and human wisdom are good, but there’s always the danger of self-sufficiency and pride. Some start thinking that from there-on they can move forward on their own… without needing God. So the second reading of John insists that loving well is a matter of following Christ… ‘fulfill his commandments well’. And this is part of our nature, not something alien and forced. Each of us is its dwelling. Christ wants us to live fully and that’s a process, it is not something instantaneous... He puts us on the road! The Gospel also tells of the unconnected branches being 'thrown into the fire', and that may seem to contradict a God of mercy, but it’s describing how one’s connection with Christ is vital. By connecting us with Christ, we are connecting with the whole family - Father, Son and Spirit. Jesus says that he is the vine, but adds "and my father is the vinedresser". As at the wedding in Cana (John 2), our mother, Mary, makes the effort to stimulate her son, Jesus, to give a solution to the lack of wine and cheerfulness at the fiesta! Her joy is to realize that God loves us so much that he gives his body and blood on the cross. For this reason we consecrate wine at mass today. The second reading asks us to love not just in word or speech but by putting it into practice, however my vocation (call) is the 'Ministry of the Word' and I can't speak with many from a wheelchair, then I hope that my sending e-mails is a form of love 'in deed and truth' (1 Jn 3:18)! ...........Dara. En ESPAÑOL: 5° Domingo de Pascua: Hechos 9:26-31 1Jn 3:18-24 Jn 15:1-8 Este Domingo Cristo dice que es ‘la vid verdadera’ esperando que estemos ‘bien conectados’ a él y que nuestras vidas den ‘buen fruto’. El vino, de hecho, aparece frecuentemente en el Evangelio (Bodas de Cana –Jn 2–, este domingo –Jn 15–, y la Ultima Cena). Me hablan de cómo Dios nos da cosas buenas, pero escogemos nosotros usarlas bien o mal. ¡Cualquiera con ‘resaca’ entenderá! Piensa en la familia de un alcohólico o de una persona en un accidente de coche, causado por un conductor borracho, o en alguien que ha sufrido en una discoteca por el alcohol (peleas, abusos, etc.). Aquello simboliza nuestras vidas mismas – pueden ser buenas o malas. Depende de cómo nosotros mismos escojamos vivir. + También es verdad que cosas que fastidian al principio pueden dar mucho gozo después. El camino cristiano va por ahí. Jesús describe el camino de seguimiento como un yugo o una carga, pero añade “mi yugo es suave y mi carga ligera”. He procurado evitar riquezas, honores, placeres (¡y discotecas con alcohol!) desde el comienzo de mi vocación, pero lo maravilloso es que me siento mucho más rico y disfrutando cada día. ¡Ni siquiera la esclerosis múltiple puede robarme esto! Todos podemos vivir libres. Un jardinero pueden injertar un brote de un árbol en el tronco de otro, pero nuestra unión con Jesús puede ser aún más profunda: nuestra vida está enraizada en Cristo. Está así desde nuestro bautismo, pero el problema es que a veces nos desconectamos y escogemos otros caminos. Este domingonos llama a renovar nuestra elección fundamental (como la renovación de promesas bautismales cada Pascua). Al utilizar mi teclado aquí, me acuerdo del fastidio que supuso cierto día el que se cortase la electricidad antes de haber guardado lo que había escrito. Del mismo modo que las máquinas necesitan electricidad, todos nosotros necesitamos estar bien enchufados a Cristo. La vida misma viene de Él. Escuchamos las lecturas en la misa, pero puede que eso, comparado al tiempo que pasamos mirando la televisión o leyendo periódicos, sea minúsculo. Y claro, la conexión con Cristo es cuestión de sentarse y pasar algún tiempo meditando lo que hemos escuchado. Por esto Jesús dice en el sermón de la montaña que deberíamos entrar en nuestra ‘habitación privada’: “Pero cuando ores, entra en tu cuarto, cierra la puerta, y ora con tu Padre en secreto, y tu Padre que ve en lo secreto te recompensará” (Mt 6:6). La oración no es cuestión de recibir una lista de instrucciones, sino de dejar iluminar la mente y el corazón acerca de nuestras vidas. Si tenemos intención de compartir con otros lo que entendemos en nuestra oración, probablemente recibiremos más luz que si orásemos sólo para nosotros mismos. ¡Incluso la patrona de las misiones, Santa Teresa de Lisieux – una monja contemplativa que nunca salió de su convento – escribió un libro que ayudó a muchos, incluido a mí! ¡Si la mente y el corazón están bien injertados en Cristo, pueden surgir sorpresas! Reflexionar bien sobre la Palabra de Dios nos empuja al desafío de transformar nuestra vida. Jesús habla hoy de la poda de la vid. La primera lectura de los Hechos de los Apóstoles habla del asombro de los primeros cristianos en Jerusalén cuando vieron el cambio en Saulo (más tarde llamado Pablo): ¡qué transfor++mación, qué poda, de perseguidor a columna de la Iglesia! La lectura dice que debatía mucho con los Helenistas (los Griegos). Estos representaban una cultura muy intelectual y avanzada en filosofía y en ciencia. Pero eso no significa que fuesen más inteligentes. Pablo, unido a Cristo, nos muestra otro tipo de inteligencia: Él más inteligente es el que más ama. Los avances en la ciencia y en la sabiduría humana son buenos, pero siempre está el peligro de la autosuficiencia y el orgullo – de pensar ‘desde aquí podemos avanzar por nuestra cuenta; no necesitamos a Dios’. Por eso la segunda lectura de Juan insiste en que amar bien es cuestión de seguir bien a Cristo – de ‘cumplir sus mandamientos’. Y esto es parte de nuestra naturaleza, no algo ajeno y forzado. Cada uno de nosotros es su morada. Cristo quiere vivir en nosotros. Se trata de un proceso, no es algo instantáneo... ¡pongámonos en camino! El Evangelio también habla de las ramas desconectadas que son ‘echadas al fuego’, y puede parecer que contradice un Dios de misericordia, pero en realidad lo que nos dice es que nuestra conexión con Cristo es vital. Al conectarnos con Cristo, nos estamos conectando con la familia entera – Padre, Hijo y Espíritu. Jesús dice que él es la vid, pero añade “y mi Padre es el viñador”. ¡Igual que en las bodas de Cana (Jn 2), nuestra madre, María, está empeñada en que su hijo dé solución a la falta de vino y alegre la fiesta! La alegría suprema está en darnos cuenta de que Dios nos ama hasta entregar su cuerpo y sangre en l+a cruz. Por eso consagramos el vino en la misa hoy. La segunda lectura nos pide amar no solamente en palabra o charla sino en hecho y verdad, sin embargo mi vocación (llamada) es al ‘ministerio de la palabra’ y no puedo hablar con muchos desde una silla de ruedas, ¡entonces espero que +mi envío de correo electrónico sea una forma de amar ‘en hecho y verdad’! .....Dara. Comments are closed.
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