Father Prince's Reflection
THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
The comedian and pianist, Victor Borge once surprised his friends by purchasing a chicken farm. One of his friends asked him, dubiously, “Do you know anything about breeding chickens?” Borge replied, “No, but the chickens do.” Quite right. It comes naturally to them, just as it comes naturally for the branches on a vine to bear fruit, which is what God’s servants do without prodding.
In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus says, “I am the vine, and my Father is the vine grower …. You are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5) In this context, ‘to bear fruit’ means living out the new life, we as Christians have discovered. Those branches that do not bear fruit are of no use in affecting the world and its people in the way Christ intended. Their non-productive discipleship can be compared to dead, withered branches that might as well be cut off and burned.
As a matter of fact, all the branches, even the fruitful ones, can benefit from a little pruning, to help them produce more fruit. And so, God, the vine grower, will work on Christ’s disciples; prune them so that they may become more productive. The purpose of the vine is to produce fruit. The aim of Christ, the vine, is to have followers who not only will live the good new life he has bestowed upon them, but also will share it with all others. And, for you and me, the basis of this fruitfulness is our connection with the true vine, which is Christ.
The message is that Christ expects a certain type of life from us, his followers. Moreover, he makes it possible for us to live that life. But the condition, the indispensable condition is that we live it with him, in dependence on him, and never independent of him. He is the strength, the power, the life in us, and we should never dream of trusting in any other, or looking for any other. Our life is truly graced, Jesus is telling us, only when lived with him and in him. What we give is what we get. What we reap is what we sow. The fruit we bear be returned to us in hundredfold.
“Remain in me as I remain in you, says the Lord. Whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.” (Gospel acclamation)
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