The Vine and the Branches

5^th Sunday of Easter (B); May 2, 2021

Acts 9:26-41.  Ps 22.  1 Jn 3:18-24.  Jn 15:1-8

Deacon Jim McFadden

            You may be familiar with the Co-Exist bumper sticker, which horizontally lists the great religions of the world: it uses the Islamic crescent moon for ‘C’, a peace sign for the ‘O’, the Hindu Om symbol for the ‘E’, a Star of David for the ‘X’, a pentacle for the dot of the ‘I’, a yin-yang symbol for the ‘S’, and a Christian cross for the ‘T’.  The Co-Exist subtle suggests that all the world religions are on the same footing, that they are of parallel worth and that one religion is not qualitatively better than another; its all a matter of personal preference or cultural upbringing.    The bumper sticker fits nicely with our inclusive sensibilities.

            Today’s Gospel reading of the Vine and the Branches jolts our kumbaya predilections when we hear that a branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains on the vine.  Or, more dramatically, “without me you can do nothing”(Jn 15:5c).  Again, “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither” (v. 6a).

            These quotes offend our inclusive desires; indeed, the great vice of our society is exclusivity, which is why Catholics are regarded with suspicion and disdain by others.  So, when we proclaim these statements that unless “You remain in Jesus, you can do nothing” offends people.  Or, when Jesus says, “apart from me you can have no life” because “I am Life” itself, it strikes many as being insensitive and exclusive.

            Is Jesus really saying that unless we are rooted in him, we can’t be saved or if we don’t dwell within him, then we are a useless branch only suitable for the fire.  Put bluntly, yes, he is saying that! But to understand these radical statements, we have to put them into context.  We are saying that Jesus is not one of many spiritual gurus a la the Co-Exist sign, but he is the Word of God made Flesh.  He is Immanuel, God among us, which is a singular unique proclamation as it applies to no one else.  That’s why St. Paul said in his 1^st Letter to Timothy that Jesus is the sole mediator between Heaven and Earth (2:5).

            Jesus is the power by which God makes and sustains the whole world.  What does that mean?   Hearken back to the Creation stories in Genesis 1-2: how does God create the world from nothing?  He SPOKE his Word, who brought forth Creation.  This means that anything that exists at all, exists through him.  We hear this in John’s Prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be” (Jn 1:1-3).

            If Jesus wasn’t as John proclaims, then it would be exorbitant to make all these exclusive claims.  But, if he is, then we can attest that we find our very being in him and no one else.

            The Word of God, the Logos—the 2^nd Person of the Trinity, is that power through whom we exist from moment to moment.  As the Logos, the perfect self-reflective Thought of the Father, Jesus is the foundation of the order and structure of the universe.  To convey this radical contingency on the Logos, Jesus uses the image of the vine and the branches.  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.  I am the vine and you are the branches” (15:4-5).

            With this image, Jesus teaches us how to abide in him, to be united in him, even though he is not physically present.  Jesus is the vine, and through him—like sap in a tree—the very love of God, the Holy Spirit is passed through the branches.  That’s why we need to be united with Jesus.  Cut off from the vine, we are not self-sufficient, but depend totally on the vine, in which the source of life is found.  Why?  Because Jesus is LIFE itself: through him everything comes into Being and is sustained in Being.  So, it is with Christians: we are grafted onto Jesus. 

            What’s the implication?  Every person—e.g., Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, agnostic, and atheist—is rooted in Christ, whether they know it or not, whether they are formally conscious of it or not.

            O.K., if that’s the case, what difference does it make to be a Catholic?  If everyone is rooted in the Logos, then what’s the point of being a Christian?  As we were initiated into the Church and Trinitarian Love at our baptism, we have been given the enormous privilege of knowing the Logos in a personal way.  The Logos who undergirds everything is intelligible, is a Person.  And, in a moment of time not too long ago, the Word of God became human in Jesus of Nazareth by whom we can have an ‘I-Thou’, interpersonal relationship.  That means we can hear the Word of God with our own ears when we reflect upon the Gospel where he speaks to us in the tones of a human voice.  We can see the logic of all things by seeing how Jesus lived, because he is Yahweh walking among us, who is touching us and is in communion with us.  The intelligibility of the cosmos becomes radically clear in Jesus, the Word of God made Flesh.  And, that is the difference of Christianity because we are grafted onto Jesus.

            How does that happen?  Pope Francis put it beautifully in his Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (#14) when he said that we are all called to be holy by living our lives as Jesus modeled for us: generous self-giving and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever and whenever we find ourselves.  We are called to be holy because by being a branch of the vine that is Jesus, we have received such richness of grace.  Every activity we do—work, play, or interpersonal relationships—whether small or great, is lived in Jesus that draws us more deeply into the Love of the Trinity.

            Brothers and sisters, when we are united with and in Jesus, we will enjoy such incredible blessings, the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are—as Paul tells us—“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22).  The fruits of this profound union with Jesus are wonderful: our whole person is transformed by grace of the Spirit; we gradually become more and more like Jesus.  We receive a new Way of being; the life of Christ becomes our own: we are able to think like him, to see the world through his eyes.  We are able to love like him, beginning with the poorest and those who suffer the most, as he did and love them with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  As we stay grafted onto Jesus, we will bear the fruits of goodness, of charity, and peace in our world.  May we enthusiastically be living branches in the Church and witness our faith in a consistent manner—consistent in our thoughts, words, and deeds—knowing that  all of us, according to our particular vocation and ministries, participate in the one saving mission of Christ Jesus.  Amen.