HOMILY: FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B (9)
HOMILY: FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
(Jn. 15:1-8) Fifth Sunday of Easter
In the day’s Gospel, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Jesus uses another image. He presents Himself as the vine and we are the branches. The analogy is clear; in the same way that the branches cannot live on their own and depends for sustenance from the vine, we too cannot live with Jesus and relies on Him to show us the way to the Kingdom.
We can reason out all we want by referring to our riches, talents, powers and whatever this world can provide. But we know that they can only sustain us for a time. When we are terminally ill, all them cannot do anything. When we are deep into sin, vices or addiction, all of them are useless. When we are depressed, sad, lonely or frustrated, all of them are helpless. Jesus, the Son of the Father, is the source of life, the living water and the bread of life. This is the reason why this passage is also used during the rite of the Sacrament of Matrimony. The couple receiving the sacrament are being reminded that their love and everything they have are not sufficient to live their married life and have a joyful one. The presence of the Lord Jesus in the lives of married couples completes their joy. It lies in the purpose of the sacrament which is to be witnesses to the love affair between God and His Creation, between God and us. In other words, married couples are supposed to love each other the way God loved us and how we should love God. Every married couple must inspire and remind people of the love of God. As long as the couple has Jesus at the centre of their lives, they will love, forgive, understand, and sacrifice for each other in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, till death do them part.
God treats us as a lover, His husband or His wife. He is forever faithful. He gives and does everything for us not only to be happy but to be saved. Unless we, by our sins, reject God and cut ourselves from Him, God’s living grace will always sustain us to everlasting life.
