Connected to Jesus

5th Sunday of Easter May 6, 2012 (Jn 15:1-8)

"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 everyone 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.

Connection is very important in our daily lives. "No man is an island," the saying goes. We need to connect with the people who matter to us. We want to be connected to people who can do favors for us. This need to connect explains why social networking sites such as facebook and twitter have been widely accepted.

Jesus, in our Gospel today, compares Himself to a vine to which we, the branches are connected. The Father, He says, is the vine grower who prunes us and expects us to bear fruit. We are connected to Jesus because of our faith in Him. Obviously, a branch cut off from the vine will surely die. Jesus' metaphor thus conveys powerful messages about our relationship with Him: "If we are cut off from Jesus, we cannot bear fruit," and "If we do not bear fruit, we might as well be cut off from Jesus."

In our modern times, when we busy ourselves in connecting to people for many different reasons, there is a danger that we might lose our connection to Christ. Faith in Him is now challenged by so many things around us that invite us to connect to them instead. But it is clear that we cannot live apart from Christ. We can do nothing without Him as our source of strength. We must always be connected to Him.

Nevertheless, our connectedness to Jesus must not be stagnant. No matter how strong our faith in Him is, it is dead if it doesn't bear fruit. Bearing fruit means doing good works arising from one's faith. In the level of the community, bearing fruit means growing in number as the witnessing of the community attracts others to also connect themselves to Christ. True connectedness to Jesus always entails bearing good fruit.

The Father, our vine grower prunes us in order to help us bear fruit. But we must submit to His pruning. Jesus tells us that His Word is one way by which we become pruned. Through the Word of God, we can little by little prune away the things in our lives that hinder us from bearing good fruit. But we must let this Word transform us. We must not simply hear the Words of Jesus, we must heed them.

Jesus also speaks to us in the events of our daily lives. It doesn't matter if our experiences are joyful or sad. What matters is that we are able to get the message Jesus is trying to tell us in everything that happens to us. And when we heed these lessons, we become more connected to Christ and we can bear more fruit.

As we continue rejoicing in the Season of Easter, may we not forget our connectedness to Christ and our responsibility to bear fruit. Jesus continues to give us life for He is the vine and we are the branches. May we rejoice in this life He gives and may we bear fruit through it!

To Grow and Bear the Choicest of Grapes

5th Sunday of Easter May 10, 2009 (Jn 15:1-8)

"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 everyone 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."

Jesus introduces Himself in the Gospel today as the vine, to which we, the branches, are attached. A branch not attached to the vine will surely die. In the same way, if we do not remain in Jesus, we shall die.

Our mission as branches is to produce fruit. The Father, the vine grower, will cut off every branch that does not bear fruit. If we let sin hinder us from bearing fruit, we will be cut off from God. We will feel that God is not with us. But it is our own fault because it was our choice not to bear fruit. We are the ones fleeing from God because of our sins. This is the effect of sin. Sin separates us from God, our vine, and from our neighbor, our fellow branches.

We should let God prune us. We should let Him cut off those in us which hinder our growth - sin, anger, pride and any other evil. Everyday, the Father tries to prune us. We just have to submit ourselves to Him. We need to listen to the Word of God and let His words transform us.

The events in our lives are also God's pruning. Regardless of how joyful or how bitter the events in our lives make us feel, they are willed or allowed by God in order to prune us. It is up to us to pick up the lessons that God is trying to teach us through these events.

But regardless of what happens in our lives, we should remain in Jesus, for He is our source of life. We should stay in the path of righteousness, the way of love. God created us out of nothing, and we return to nothingness without Him. Our lives should be dedicated to God and we should have a harmonious relationship with Him and with each other.

To produce fruit means to be faithful to our mission as branches. We, as Christians, are given an active faith. It empowers us to reach out and evangelize by word and deed, to touch lives and make other people feel God's presence. Through this, the Church grows and develops new branches; and we ourselves grow and bear the choicest of grapes.

By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 5, 2008 (Mt 21:33-43)

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

In Genesis we find God entrusting creation to man - His greatest obra maestra. Man was made the steward of God here on earth. In the same way, the landowner in the parable entrusts the care of his vineyard to some tenants, which prove to be unworthy of the trust given them. They violate the virtue of justice, which dictates giving to our fellow man what they deserve. They are found useless and even destructive, therefore, they must be replaced with more loyal tenants.

We too, are entrusted by God with a mission here on earth. We all have a common mission, and that is to help each other achieve union with God - for that is the ultimate purpose of our being. We also have unique missions as unique individuals. This mission given us by God can be discerned through personal reflection. God gives us hints so we may easily find out our mission. He gives us talents and a set of unique qualities that we can use as bases for knowing our mission. It's like when a maid is given a spatula and cooking materials, it probably means that her master would like her to cook for the family. Our talents and qualities are the tools which God gives in order for us to complete our mission. We will never be truly happy if we do not fulfill our missions. If we follow our own will and reject God's, loneliness is ours.

We should give God what is due Him, and that is our obedience. We ought to obey Him since He is our Creator and because His will is also for our own good. His will is for us to be saved and be eternally happy with Him. We, as His stewards are given missions, the success of which could be determined by manifestations or fruits. If our mission does not bear fruit, then we are worthless. The Kingdom of God demands these fruits from us for it is "by our fruits that they shall know us" as children of God, as disciples of Christ.

If we really are firmly rooted in Christ, if we really are branches attached to the vine, where are our fruits? Are they good fruits? Can these fruits be given as a worthy offering to God?