Homily(2) 5th Sunday of Easter Year B: Fr. Michael U.
Udoekpo
Readings: Acts 9: 26-31 Ps 22:26-32; 1 John 3:18-24 and John
15:1-8
Remaining
in Christ Jesus
In the last discourse of John’s Gospel which we began reading
last Sunday, Jesus continues to remind his disciples, of who he is. Jesus is
not only the Way to the Father, he is the Truth, the Life (John 14), and
the Vine (John 15), to whom we must remain as branches. He knew that his
death would be devastating to the disciples, humanly speaking. We saw this in
the conversation the two disciples on the way from Emmaus had. We saw this in
Mary Magdalene. We saw this in Thomas and others.
After his resurrection, Jesus would not only have to appear to them here
and there, but sometimes would eat fish with the disciples to show that he
was still there with them. Apart from his appearances he knew he would ascend
to the Father who sent him originally. Although the coming down of the
Holy Spirit on the Church was on the way, it was important for Jesus to stress
the importance of his disciples sticking with him ( Gr. menō), remaining with him, consistence in doing good, in loving and
believing, holding onto Jesus, his teachings, after he was gone physically.
He uses the imagery of the vine and the branches to drive home
his point. Jesus is the vine, the source of life and nourishment, and we are
the branches- nourished by the vine. Whoever
remains in him bears abundant fruits- because without Christ we can do nothing.
Vine branches you know can’t survive on its own without the parent tree.
Take faith for example. Faith, trust is a wonderful gift, and a
fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is that spiritual nourishment that comes only
from Christ the vine. As we are told in the 1st reading, it was not
easy for the Disciples of Christ in Jerusalem to trust the repented Saul. They
knew him to be a terrorist, a murderer and a persecutor of Christ. It takes
faith and nourishment from God for us to trust one another, not to be afraid of
one another. It takes faith and trust to see ourselves as brothers and sisters
in the Lord, irrespectively of our cultural or biological differences. We need
each other.
What about the fruit of joy, peace in peace less world of today?
(Think of the current Police/Black community crisis in Baltimore, and all over
the United States today, as well as the proliferation of violence in the
world). We need patience in a world that everybody is in a hurry today. We need
kindness, goodness, faithfulness to our vows and church’s teachings that
sometimes slip away from custody. We need gentleness and self-control in a
modern world filled with greedy tendencies. We need to remain with commandment of forgiveness
and love (Gal 5:22), as well as allow Christ to take control of us, to prune us
so that we can bear much fruits.
The more reason the author of 1st John insists today that, “those who keep his
commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains
in us is from the Spirit he gave us” (1 John 3:18-24). In other words, the best
ways to remain in Christ is to live joyfully, lovingly, peacefully, selflessly,
with patience-endurance, allowing Christ to prune us, forgiving those who have
offended us, and showing sincere kindness to one another.
