Friday, May 6, 2016

Wednesday of the 5th Week of Easter, Cycle C - April 27, 2016

Wednesday of the 5th Week of Easter
April 27, 2016      6:30am

 

Readings:   Acts 15.1-6
                  John 15.1-8

In today’s gospel Jesus uses the word “remain” eight times.
In John’s entire gospel, the word is used forty times.
So, this idea of remaining in Jesus, as branches remain in a vine, must be very important.

In the different letters and books of the New Testament, we hear this idea expressed in several ways.
Paul says that we live in Christ and that God dwells in us.
Peter says that we are made partakers of the divine life.
John, in one of his letters, says Christ is in us.

So, despite our failings, despite our human imperfections, despite our empty feelings at times, despite the eventual wearing down of our bodies – despite all of that, we are in Christ and Christ is in us. 
With the image of the vine and branches, Jesus outrightly calls us to remain in him.
He wants us to consciously work at remaining in him.
We do that through personal, private prayer.
And we do that through the Eucharist – the visible, sensible food that Jesus gives us so that he can remain in us and we can remain in him.

The conclusion I see to this is that we need to draw on this “remaining” in Jesus and he in us as often as we can.

This will be for us a source of strength for everyday life and also a source of hope for today and tomorrow and destiny which is to “remain” with and in God forever.