May 3rd
, 2015 Sunday Homily:
Fr.Francis Chirackal CMI, MSW
Acts 9:26-31;
1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8
For Readings
You might have visited Bangalore Lalbagh flower
show. We may get surprised to see different colours and sizes of varieties of
roses there. In my previous parish, we had a beautiful rose garden. During the
season the garden looks very beautiful with big and varieties of roses. While
seeing those flowers many become tempted to take its pictures. Many of you may
have those pictures in your cell phones. I have some of them in my cell phone.
But, a few weeks before this beautiful scene, the same garden looks very dry
and having not even a few green leaves. You know why? the gardener had pruned the branches of all
of those roses. When our garden looked very dry, while going for evening walk,
I noticed a few small rose flowers in some of the unattended gardens of vacant houses
around. But within a few weeks our pruned, dry-looking roses became green and
life thriving with lots of flower buds. Gradually it became very colorful and
beautiful. In California, especially some of the counties like Napa and Sonoma
are well known for vineyards. Pruned vineyards and vines, vineyards with
eye-catching grapes are familiar to us. We can see a few vineyards around
Bangalore too. In today’s gospel, Jesus uses such a vineyard in Palestine, to
explain the inseparable relationship between the Heavenly Father, Jesus and us.
Also in the Old Testament, we see how Yahweh compares His relationship with
Israel to vineyards.
First reading gives a summary of Paul’s
conversion. There we see a persecutor turned missionary, a most dangerous
attacker turned strong care taker. John
in the second reading reminds us to live our faith with deeds of love and
service.
Jesus in the gospel compares God, the
heavenly Father as the gardener and Himself, the Son of God as the trunk of the
vine while all of us are its branches. Many of you are familiar with a method
of grafting vines for more crops. A grafted vine can produce a variety of
grapes and a better crop. As we are the adopted children of God, we are grafted
to Jesus through Baptism. Since we are grafted to Jesus, we are able to produce
more fruit, getting the same life and energy from Jesus. Jesus said that I am
the vine and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me will have life and
produce more fruit, while apart from me you can do nothing. The human history
proves the same.
Faith-living History of the Church
testifies that the words of Jesus using the allegory of vine, branches and
gardener are a source of profound consolation and encouragement. Jesus spoke
these words to His Apostles as His time of departure was nearing. He spoke these
words to console and give them courage. From then to day this and forever,
these words are also applicable to each and every one of us, all of the
believers in Christ.
A few weeks ago, this is the spirit which
enabled those 21 and 30 martyrs to surrender their life for the faith in Jesus
with courage, when ISIS terrorists beheaded them in Libya. This is the spirit We
need encouragement to persevere on the road of salvation. We need strength to
overcome obstacles and hardships in our journey. The road of salvation is narrow,
rocky and thorny. Jesus’ words explain the extent of love with which the heavenly
Father takes care of us, and how Jesus shares His own life to make us
fruit-bearing and saved. This is one of the answers to our sufferings and
pains. Some of the sufferings are designed by God to prepare us for more fruit
bearing. Here our lives are intimately related to God, and we need to draw life
from God, remaining with God and submitting ourselves to be pruned by Him the
gardener, to reach our goal of salvation.
Human beings, with our weakness may be
tempted to draw energy and courage from certain worldly and evil elements in
unlawful or immoral ways. But none of those evil elements or substances is
capable of leading us to lasting peace and strength but Jesus. Jesus is capable
of giving it. None of the founders of other religions claimed that he is the
life and way. All of them claimed that they have knowledge about God. All of
them said that, they will show the way to God. It is true that there is truth in
all religions, who worship God. But Jesus said, ‘I am the way, I am the truth,
and I am the life”. He said, “ My Father
is the gardener”. He is the gardener of this universe. Jesus said, “I came from
heaven. Anyone who sees me sees the Father”. Jesus proved it with His
resurrection. This is the specialty of Christianity.
A vine shares everything with its branches.
Jesus shares His own body and blood with us. He shares himself with us. He has
become the part of our life. God is not something put in to our lives, but we
are grafted to God. It is our need to be with God to grow and bear fruit. God
never leaves us to perish, but always remains with us expecting us to look at
Him so that He can help us with His grace, respecting our freedom of choice.
Once we turn to God for help whether we are afraid, troubled, or we are sick or
lonely He will be there right in front of us fondling our head and consoling us
with His strengthening words, “Let not your hearts be troubled, Be not afraid”.
We hear the testimony of thousands of people from all over the world, who had
and are having this experience even today.
Many times in our lives we may struggle and
look around helplessly for consolation and a ray of hope, forgetting to look at
God. Let us recognize and look at God. Let us be the fruit bearing branches of
vine in the garden of the Heavenly Father. Let us draw life and energy from
Christ in our daily lives. Let us rejoice everyday Jesus and enable others also
to rejoice in God. God bless you.
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