Commenting on the day's Gospel in which Jesus tells His disciples "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower", the Holy Father explained that "the true vineyard is God and the true vine is Jesus, Who with His sacrifice of love gave us salvation and opened the way for us to become part of that vineyard. And just as Christ abides in the love of God the Father, so the disciples, pruned by the Master's word, united themselves profoundly to Him, becoming fruitful branches which produced abundant fruit"….
"Each of us", Pope Benedict continued, "is like a branch which lives only if it grows every day through prayer and participation in the Sacraments, through charity and union with the Lord. Those who love Christ, the true vine, produce fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest".
For more information, please visit:
http://www.news.va/en/news/regina-coeli-christ-is-the-vine-we-are-the-branche+
From the Homily of His Excellency William Shomali, Auxilliary Bishop of Jerusalem:
“…The vine in the Old Testament symbolized Israel. When Israel obeyed the commandments of the Lord, it was a fruitful vine. When Israel disobeyed his commandments, it became a sterile vine. In the context of today’s Gospel, the Vine is Jesus Christ. We are honored to be His branches.
I was impressed by the number of times Jesus, in Saint John’s Gospel, describing the relation between the vine and the branches, used the verb “remain”. I counted 11 times. The same verb is mentioned twice in the second reading. This points to the importance of this verb.
The disciples should remain in Jesus as he remains in them.
The branch should remain in the vine. The words of Jesus should remain in the disciples.
The disciples remain in the love of Jesus if they keep his commandments. The fruits of the disciple should remain.
Another expression is also repeated often. “To bear fruits”. It is repeated 6 times:
We can easily note that remaining in Jesus and bearing fruits are related as a cause to its effect. The dictionary defines “To remain” by these verbs: to stay, to stay united, to stay in the same place or in the same status, to continue, to go on being, to continue to exist, to endure, to persist. These synonyms are important. But as the Gospel relates to a supernatural sphere which cannot be described in words, the metaphor of the vine is the best way to make us aware of our wonderful and vital relationship with Jesus.
But how does Jesus remain in us?
There are three ways:
The first way is through his words: Jesus remains in us if we remain in his words: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want” (John 15:7). Jesus and his word are one. When we listen to him, we become one with him. His words are like the vital fluid which proceeds from the vine and nourishes the branches to make them bear fruits. Consequently, let us ask ourselves: Do we read a paragraph of the Bible daily in order to remain in Him and He in us? Do we draw power and consolation from the daily meditation of the Gospel?
The words of Jesus remain in us if we keep His commandments. “Those who keep His commandments remain in Him, and He in them”, says the second reading.
The second way to remain in Him is through love:
Here it is sufficient to quote Jesus himself: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. … My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:9-10.12).
It is relevant to ask ourselves some more questions: Do we love our neighbors, the people we work with? Are we ready to forgive the evil that they did to us? Are we ready, like Saint Paul, to follow Jesus Christ and to break down the dividing wall of enmity? (Eph. 2:14). Do we love for the sake of God and not for personal interest?
To remain in Jesus is to remain in His love and in the love of our brothers and sisters.
The third way we remain in Jesus is through the Eucharist.
The sacrament of the Eucharist illustrates our unity with Him in a better way than the image of the vine and the branches. The image of food is strong. What is a stronger image of unity than eating bread, this bread that becomes part of our body? What is stronger than drinking wine, which becomes part of our blood? How strong is the expression used by Jesus: eat my flesh and drink my blood? It is an impressive image to convey and realize unity between Him and ourselves. This image says more than itself. It produces what it means and means what it produces.
In conclusion, I would like to talk about the fruits that are supposed to be borne by the branches. Which are they?
They are the same fruits mentioned in the letter to Galatians: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galations 5:22). We all long to bear such good fruits in our life.
So, under which condition can the branch bear fruits? It needs only to remain attached to the vine and accept to be pruned and cleaned. What is the condition which makes us bear fruits of love, peace, patience, kindness, generosity etc ….?” It is to remain united to Jesus through hearing his words, through our fidelity to his love, through keeping his commandments, through accepting the difficulties of life through which the Lord prunes and purifies us.
For more information, please visit:
http://en.lpj.org/2012/05/07/homily-of-bishop-william-shomali-at-jerusalem-kehilla/+
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