May 03, 2015
Sunday,
5th Sunday of Easter
1st Reading: Acts 9:26-31
2nd Reading:
1 Jn 3:18-24
Gospel: Jn 15:1-8
Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine and my Father is the vinegrower. If any of my branches doesn’t bear fruit, he breaks it off; and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit. “You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you; live in me as I live in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself but has to remain part of the vine; so neither can you if you don’t remain in me. “I am the vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in me is thrown away as they do with branches and they wither. Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.”If you remain in me and my words in you, you may ask whatever you want and it will be given to you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit: it is then that you become my disciples.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
In comparing himself to a vine and suggesting that we should be like branches in relation to him, Jesus was proclaiming himself as source of our life. We have all been grafted to Christ though baptism and we have remained in him because of our faith nourished by the sacraments. Retaining our individual differences, the kingdom of God we have formed on earth is a happy mixture of various fruits. Just as from grape fruits come not just wine but also resins useful for food processing, so our fruits will always be of use to the kingdom for as long as such are derived from our branch – Jesus Christ the source of all good.
To render our fruits useful to the kingdom the second reading of today’s liturgy (1 John 3:18-24) invites us to love not only with words and with our lips, but also in truth and deed. But what is truth? Pilate asked Jesus the same question at the Praetorium. It was just unfortunate that he turned his back before Jesus could give the answer. He was probably afraid of the implications of Jesus’ answer.
The fundamental truth we must face is that we have been created a little less than a god (Psalm 8). In the context of this dignity, our fellowmen deserve respect. By loving them we avoid rendering God mere lip service. Somebody corrupted the text of today’s Gospel verse and came up with this one: “To forgive is ’di-vine’ and you are the branches.” Funny but useful, for it reminds us that forgiveness belong to God and that if we are grafted to God like branches to a vine, we should be capable of forgiving too. —Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya? I-type ang BANDERA REACT <message/name/age/address> at i-send sa 4467.