EASTER V-Acts 9: 26-31; 1 Jn 3: 18-24; Jn 15: 1-8

 There are seven "I Am" sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. I Am the true vine is the last of these sayings.

I am the bread of life - 6:35
I am the light of the world - 8:12 & 9:5
I am the gate for the sheep - 10:7,9
I am the good shepherd - 10:11,14
I am the resurrection and the life - 11:25
I am the way and the truth and the life - 14:6
I am the true vine - 15:1,5

Jesus so often did not speak literally, but figuratively. He spoke in allegories and images. He painted word pictures. Instead of literally coming out and saying what he meant, he so often would tell a story and let people draw their own conclusion. Indeed, these hidden messages of Jesus frequently frustrated his disciples. They wished that he would speak literally and not be quite so subtle.

Even the most ardent fundamentalist has to agree that when Jesus spoke the words: I am the true vine, he was not speaking literally. So, we have to go beyond the actual words and discover Jesus’ meaning.

Jesus uses his favorite image of the vine and branches to help his disciples understand the closeness of their relationship with him and the necessity of their maintaining it. They are not simply rabbi and disciples. Their lives are mutually dependent - as close as a vine and its branches.  Jesus says, the life-giving Spirit whom Jesus will send them, will be present and active within and among his disciples and will help maintain a communion with him.

The vine was part and parcel of Jewish imagery and the very symbol of Israel.  The vine was grown all over in Palestine. There are numerous Old Testament passages which refer to Israel as a vine. The vine grows luxuriantly and it requires drastic pruning. In pruning a vine, two principles are generally observed: first, all dead wood must be ruthlessly removed; and second, the live wood must be cut back drastically. Dead wood harbors insects and disease and may cause the vine to rot. Live wood must be trimmed back in order to prevent such heavy growth that the life of the vine goes into the wood rather than into fruit. As the farmer wields the pruning knife on his vines, so God cuts dead wood out from among His saints, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His method seems cruel. Nevertheless, from those who have suffered the most there often comes the greatest fruitfulness.

Even a well-pruned branch cannot bear grapes unless it abides in the vine, drawing water and minerals from the main trunk and transporting food prepared in the leaves to the main trunk and to the roots.  Jesus reminds us that we cannot bear fruit either, unless we abide in him just as he abides in us. Abiding in Christ means that God has to be inside us and we have to be inside God. Sometimes we have a relationship or union with Jesus, but not enough to have a communion with him.

A little five-year-old boy fell out of bed. His cry awakened the entire household. After his mother had safely tucked him back under the covers, she said, "Why did you fall out of bed?" Between tears and sobs, he said, "Well, I guess I went to sleep too close to where I got in."

Far too many Christians make the same mistake. They fall out of the bed of life and go to heaven; yet they slept too close to where they got in. They never learned the difference between union and communion.

When Jesus says: "I am the vine, you are the branches." He means  a union. But  when he says:"He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit." He means communion. Union is the basis of communion.

Most churches offer union with God, but Catholic Church offers means for Communion with God. All the sacraments except the Eucharist leads to union with God. In communion there is a mutual indwelling. In a family there is union of family members. Children have the union with the parents. But a complete communion is only between a husband and a wife, where one enters into the other, not only just physically, but on a deeper spiritual level as well. God is the bridegroom in the Bible and the Church or individual soul is the bride. In the Eucharist, God enters in the soul as a husband and wife have communion in their sexual relationship. That kind of relationship is not offered to other members of the family. This would probably make sense why the Catholic Church does not offer Holy Communion to Christians of other denominations as they don’t believe in such a communion with God in the Eucharist. 

Today 16 of our second graders are going to a communion relationship with Jesus. They have union with Jesus so far. The branch lives in the Vine, but the Vine will start flowing its life giving sap into the branches today and they will mutually live in each other and bear fruit. (Keep them in your prayers today.)

To bear much fruit in our life, we need pruning in our Christian life. Cutting out of our lives everything that is contrary to the spirit of Jesus and renewing our commitment to Christian ideals in our lives every day is the first type of self-imposed pruning expected of us. A second means of pruning is practicing self-control over our evil inclinations, sinful addictions and aberrations.  Let’s present our Ego, which is the non fruit bearing branch that is growing luxuriantly in our lives to Jesus and ask him to prune it so that He may grow strong in us and we may grow less in our ego.