Homily For The Fifth Sunday of Easter, April 28, 2024
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. (John 15:4).
Sunday Readings
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
I am convinced that we become more productive when our spiritual, emotional, and physical energy is constantly connected to a positive external source that energizes us. For instance, research has shown that biophilic exposure (connection with nature) can energize employees in a work environment. Christians need to abide in Christ as a condition for producing fruits of kindness, mercy, charity, and holiness.
We have gathered to reconnect ourselves to the life-producing source of our spiritual and physical strength. Providentially the readings of today, especially the Gospel, talk about “remaining connected” to be productive. We pray that God’s Word will prune us and remain in us to strengthen our connectivity with God.
Are You Connected To The Right Source
I have often heard people talk about being connected. But the question is, to whom, where, and what are they connected to? Things and people could be connected to the wrong source. Let me use an analogy from electricity. It could lead to damaging an electronic circuit when you connect a 120V electronic gadget to a 220V power source or outlet. Phones and rechargeables connect to a power source to get recharged. Houses are connected to the grid for electricity. People are connected to the internet with their phones and computers and could be disconnected when, for instance, they are outside the Wi-Fi coverage area. Plants remain connected to the soil to obtain nutrients and grow. Family members remain connected to strengthen family bonds. Children remain connected to their parents to receive care and to care for them in return. We remain connected with our friends to strengthen the bond of relationships. We remain connected at the workplace with a team to get work done. The different parts of a system are interconnected and interdependent to provide a certain capability. Life is all about interconnectivity and this explains why no one can ever achieve any objective in life if they are not connected with God and in some fashion with others. Hence the sayings, “No man is an Island.” “A tree does not make a forest.”
People often believe that if you are connected to the right people, you have a great opportunity of actualizing your goals. Yet how true is this? I have seen people who seem to have the best human connections but are not successful and productive. I have also met people who were connected with well-meaning people who were later disconnected by way of losing their positions. This brings us to one reality about our Christian life and which our Lord Jesus Christ, using the image of the vine, tries to explain to His disciples and to us His children. Life is not about our connection with humans but about our remaining connected with God who is the source and summit of our life and all that is good. God is the true source of our spiritual growth and without whom we are unproductive. Are you truly connected with God? When was the last time you prayed?
Pauls Life-changing Connection with Christ
The first reading of today from the Acts of the Apostles chapter 9, describes the aftermath of Paul’s transformation from the enemy of the early Christian movement to a God-chosen instrument bringing the Gospel to non-Jews. Jesus Himself pruned away the former Saul, the Saul who had persecuted the Church, to make Paul, a man whose life was entirely dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel. The life of Paul is a prime example of the transformative and life-changing effects of becoming connected with Christ. God prunes us by His Word. He pruned Paul to produce a branch that bore abundant fruit when Paul took God’s Word to the Gentiles.
Three conditions are necessary for abiding or remaining connected to Christ. A phone needs a charger to get connected to a source of electricity for charging. So abiding in Christ and remaining connected with Him as a branch is to the Vine demands these three necessary conditions:
We Need To Be Pruned
We need God’s pruning. God is the vine and we are the branches. Every branch that doesn’t bear fruit He cuts away, but every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it bear even more. We become pruned by cutting out of our lives everything contrary to the Spirit of Jesus and by renewing our commitment to Christian ideals in our lives every day. This is the first type of self-imposed pruning expected of us. The second means of pruning is practicing self-control over our evil inclinations, sinful addictions and relationships. We need detachment from sin to remain connected to God. Sinful worldly connections can never bear fruit but destroy the branch(you) and such a branch is cut away ( disconnected from God)
Remain Connected to God; Don’t Be Disconnected By Sin
We need to bear fruit to remain part of the Vine. A branch that doesn’t bear fruit, He cuts away. God does not cut us away or disconnect us from Himself but desires that all men remain part of Him to be saved and productive. Getting disconnected from God is a fundamental choice a person makes through living a sinful life. This is why many children of God are unproductive. A sorry sight to see is that some of us just attend church Sunday after Sunday in search of spiritual “handouts” or just to fulfill our Sunday obligation, but give little or nothing back in loving service to our brothers and sisters in the Church and the local community. They are like fruitless, leafy branches, draining life from the trunk without giving anything in return. We can only change the world and situations around us when we produce fruits of humility, love, kindness, mercy and gratitude. What we receive from God we share with the world.
Love Keeps Us Connected To God
In the second reading taken from the first letter of chapter 3, John highlights the Commandment of Love as a requirement for remaining part of the Vine. In this first letter to the Church, John explains that only if we remain united to Christ by putting our faith in Him and drawing our spiritual strength from Him, will we be able to obey God’s commandments, especially the commandment of love. If we do not practice love, we are not Christians; we are not part of the Vine. Love nourishes the branches of the Vine. God’s love nourishes us. Anyone who hates and does not love is a fruitless branch. Nourished by God’s Love, we bear fruits of love. This is the fruit that transforms us and the world around us.
Jesus Is The Vine, You Are The Branches
In the Gospel taken from the Last Supper discourse, Jesus uses His favorite image of the vine and branches to help His disciples understand the closeness of their relationship with Him and the necessity of their maintaining it. They are not simply Rabbi and disciples. Their lives are mutually dependent, as close as a vine and its branches. In fact, in using this image, Jesus is explaining to them and to us how our relationship with Him should be.
Amid our worldly connections, let’s remain connected with God Who is the source of every good thing we can ever desire. Let us be productive spiritually and materially. Like St. Paul, let our lives experience that transformation of being connected with God. Always know that if you cut yourself off from God you can do nothing; absolutely nothing because everything is in God’s hand. If you think you have made it or you can make it in life without God, my dear ones, you are deceiving yourselves. Keep in mind the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21 and don’t think you have arrived, for the journey is still far. Your life was given by God so remain connected and abide in Him.
Bear Fruits of Holiness
May you bear fruits of holiness, love, and peace. May your life be an assurance to those who are hoping in God. May you spread God’s Love wherever you go and may your life be pleasing to God until the last day. Remain connected to God through prayers and sacrifices and your life will be pleasing to Him.
The Voice of Prayer is Never Silent
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
