Acts 9:26-31; Ps 22; 1 Jn 3:18-24; Jn 15: 1-8
With and without Christ
Dear friends, today is the fifth Sunday of Easter. We have a few weeks more left in this season which is the climax of all the five liturgical seasons. By now we already know so much about the resurrection from the scripture readings on Sundays and weekdays. The tough test that St. Paul had to pass after his conversion, that is, defending his authenticity. As we too face the same test numerous times, St. John is encouraging us that if our conscience is clean, we do not need to be afraid of the judgment passed on us by the world.
Today Jesus is presenting himself to us as the true vine to which we must remain attached. The Father is the vinedresser who keeps the vine pruned and tidy. The branches on a tree must remain attached to the trunk to receive nutrients to bear fruit. If the branches fail to bear fruits, then they have no use being attached to the trunk.
When we become Christians, we are expected to bear fruits that will attract others to attach themselves to Christ. The branches are the channel through which the tree can bear fruit. Jesus is the fruit tree, and we are the branches. We are the ones who are supposed to bear the fruits of his love, mercy, and solidarity for those around us. The branches of a fruit tree might be healthy and with a lot of leaves but without bearing fruits they are useless. In my childhood, I learned about the meaning of pruning with the coffee bushes at home. I was wondering why our parents were destroying the coffee bushes which looked so beautiful with so many leaves.
The branches of a fruit tree must be pruned to give way for the fruits to come out and get enough sunlight and air to develop and sweeten. If the branches remain bushy with leaves, they bear very few fruits which may not mature, or sweeten. The branches must sacrifice their beautiful leaves to bear fruit. Sacrifice is a fundamental reality in our day-to-day life. There are things that we must shed off or lose for us to bear good fruits including self-righteousness, pride, and being judgmental towards others. All these and others of the same kind make us feel good about ourselves, but they prevent us from bearing fruits. Each branch bears as much fruit as it can support. Nevertheless, what is important is to give good fruits.
My dear friends, this invitation of Jesus to each one of us cannot be any more explicit. We can only be his disciples if we follow his example and bear fruit. The letter of St. John puts it in a very practical way, “My little sons/daughters, let us not love in words only, but in works and truth”. Actions speak louder than words. Without concrete actions, we are like bushy branches without fruits. People might be attracted to us but as they get close, they will realize that we have nothing to offer. They say, “Empty drums make the loudest noise”, and people who swear, do so to compensate for the deficit of truthfulness in themselves.
When Soul saw the light on his way to Damascus and believed in the risen Lord, the other disciples who knew him before as a persecutor were afraid to welcome him in their midst. It took the intervention of Barnabas who had seen the fruits of the Gospel in him, to convince them that he was now a disciple. The testimony of those who consume the fruits that we bear is necessary for our credibility. A tree cannot determine by itself whether its fruits are sweet or bitter. It is those who consume them that can tell. Sometimes we expend a lot of effort to make people believe we are this or that. Others expend an equal measure of effort to make others look bad because of jealousy. A Swahili refrain says “chema chajiuza kibaya chajitembeza” translated it means, “A good product sells itself but a bad product needs to self-promote”. “Lies have a very short lifespan, but the truth is eternal”. False accusations and negative criticism cannot make a good tree bad, but remember it is the tree with sweet fruits that is thrown stones. When people are throwing stones at you, know that they are attacking you but hitting the fruits on you for them to eat. The truth always has a way of manifesting itself to dissipate lies no matter how much time passes. Do not mind those who spread falsehood about your character, when the truth is made manifest, they will not be able to show their faces.
Bearing fruits simply means being true to our vocation and purpose. The rest is just politics and barren words. If you are a leader, lead by example and not through the microphone or declarations. If you are a disciple, imitate the master period. Jesus is giving us the example of a true leader who leads from the front.
Dear friends, if we are attached to Christ our fruits will be sweet to those around us, but if we are detached from him, we may add all the sweeteners we can get but our fruits will always be bitter. We cannot judge the taste of our fruits, those around us will.
Have a blessed Sunday.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 