HOMILY OF 5TH WEDNESDAY OF EASTERTIDE — YEAR A
HOMILY OF 5TH WEDNESDAY OF EASTERTIDE — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “I AM THE TRUE VINE”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Acts 15:1–6; John 15:1–8
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. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”
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The greatest danger in the world nowadays is the temptation to be self-sufficient. People struggle hard to acquire power and riches. It is their belief that these are what will make them happy. In the first place, these give them the capacity to get whatever they want and desire in life. More importantly, these assure them of self-sufficiency – they can do anything by their own power and resources, without asking the help of anyone. Needless to say, this is borne out of pride. Eventually, this leads one to think there is no need for God. Very soon he believes he is already equal to God. That is what actually happened in the case of the angel Lucifer, who became Satan, the Adversary of God.
The Gospel today is a very serious warning against self-sufficiency and pride. The Lord reminds us that He alone is the source of everything in this world: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing.” Hence, to continually enjoy God’s blessings, we have to remain always connected to Jesus. The moment we detach ourselves from Him, we lose everything; we become nothing.
A good illustration for this is in Mathematics. If we put number one first, then add the zero after it, it becomes 10. Add another zero, it becomes 100; and the more zeroes added, the greater is the value of the number. The contrary happens when we put the number one only after zero. No matter how many zeroes we place, these are nothing, until we put the number one. In fact, the value decreases as more zeroes are placed before the number one. Zero is nothing without the number one. This is true with our life. God is everything. He is the Number One. We are nothing without Him. We are the zeroes. Without God we are of no value. We become valuable only when we put God as the greatest priority in our life.
We ought to shudder in fear at the thought of being away from the Lord: “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.” St. Augustine says: “The branch is suitable only for one of two things, either the vine or the fire: if it is not in the vine, its place will be in the fire; and that it may escape the latter, may it have its place in the vine” (In Ioan. Ev. Tract. 81:3 [PL 35, 1842]).
The parable of the vine and the branches, then, is an invitation for us to constantly and steadfastly abide in Christ. But in concrete terms, where do we actually find Christ? We have to be reminded that He is the Vine, and we are the branches; He is the Head, and we are His Body. The Church is His Mystical Body. In order to be certain that we remain with Jesus, it is necessary to remain with and in the Church.
Pope Benedict XVI points this out: “To abide in Christ means … to abide in the Church as well. The whole communion of the faithful has been firmly incorporated into the vine, into Christ. In Christ we belong together. Within this communion he supports us, and at the same time all the members support one another. They stand firm together against the storm and they offer one another protection. Those who believe are not alone. We do not believe alone, but we believe with the whole Church” (Berlin Stadium, Sept. 22, 2011).
In this Mass, we are with God. But we are not alone here. We are together with our brothers and sisters in the faith, the Church. Let us make sure that in every moment of our lives, we are with God and with His Church. Then we have the assurance of fullness of life, now and forever.
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