Wednesday (May 1): “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.”

Mabuhay at Mabuting Balita!
Month of the Our Lady
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter 
St. Joseph the Worker (Optional Memorial)
12 days Before Philippine Midterm Elections

He who walking on the sea could calm the bitter waves, who gives life to the dying seeds of the earth; he who was able to loose the mortal chains of death, and after three days’ darkness could bring again to the upper world the brother for his sister Martha: He, I believe, will make Damasus rise again from the dust.  — St Damasus (from an epitaph written for himself)  http://origin.ewtn.com/devotionals/inspiration_05may2013.asp#1

First Reading:  Acts 15:1-6
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4AB, 4CD-5:   Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Gospel:  John 15:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
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.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/050113.cfm  Video Reflection:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/

Reflection:  Why does Jesus speak of himself as the true vine? The image of the vine was a rich one for the Jews since the land of Israel was covered with numerous vineyards. It had religious connotations to it as well. Isaiah spoke of the house of Israel as “the vineyard of the Lord” (Isaiah 5:7). Jeremiah said that God had planted Israel “as his choice vine” (Jeremiah 2:21). While the vine became a symbol of Israel as a nation, it also was used in the scriptures as a sign of degeneration. Isaiah’s prophecy spoke of Israel as a vineyard which “yielded wild grapes” (see Isaiah 5:1-7). Jeremiah said that Israel had become a “degenerate and wild vine” (Jeremiah 2:21). When Jesus calls himself the true vine he makes clear that no one can claim their spiritual inheritance through association with a particular people or bloodline. Rather, it is only through Jesus Christ that one can become grafted into the true “vineyard of the Lord”.

Jesus offers true life – the abundant life which comes from God and which results in great fruitfulness. How does the vine become fruitful? The vinedresser must carefully prune the vine before it can bear good fruit. Vines characteristically have two kinds of branches – those which bear fruit and those which don’t. The non-bearing branches must be carefully pruned back in order for the vine to conserve its strength for bearing good fruit. Jesus used this image to describe the kind of life he produces in those who are united with him – the fruit of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Jesus says there can be no fruit in our lives apart from him. The fruit he speaks of here is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23).

There is a simple truth here: We are either fruit-bearing or non-fruit-bearing. There is no in-between. But the bearing of healthy fruit requires drastic pruning. The Lord promises that we will bear much fruit if we abide in him and allow him to purify us. Do you trust in the Lord’s abiding presence with you?

“Lord Jesus, may I be one with you in all that I say and do. Draw me close that I may glorify you and bear fruit for your kingdom. Inflame my heart with your love and remove from it anything that would make me ineffective or unfruitful in loving and serving you as my All.”  http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/may1.htm,  www.dailyscripture.net Copyright@2013 Don Schwager

Saint of the Day:  St. Joseph the Worker
Apparently in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955. But the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a much longer history.

In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ.  http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1370

More Saint of the Day

• St. Aceolus
• St. Acius
• St. Aldebrandus
• St. Amator
• St. Andeolus
• St. Arigius
• St. Asaph
• St. Augustus Schoffler
• St. Benedict of Szkalka
• St. Bertha of Kent
• St. Bertha of Val d’Or
• St. Brieuc
• St. Buriana
• St. Ceallach
• St. Cominus
• St. Evermarus
• St. Grata
• St. Isidora
• St. Isidora the Simple
• St. John-Louis Bonnard
• St. Orentius
• St. Orentius and Patientia
• St. Panacea
• St. Peregrine Laziosi
• St. Riccardo Pampuri
• St. Theodard
• St. Ultan

 Let me be the change I want to be. Even if I am not the light, I can be the spark.

 

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