Fifth Sunday of Easter Year B | Homily for 28th April 2024

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the fifth Sunday of Easter year B. In the first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear about the life of St. Paul soon after his conversion on the road to Damascus. After preaching there, he was forced to flee due to the danger to his life from the Jews. The interesting thing, however, is that instead of escaping into a safe unknown place, he goes to the one place we probably wouldn't expect him to go -Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a place where neither the Church nor the Jews would accept him. After the stoning of Stephen, Paul was returning to Jerusalem and essentially continuing the very work that Stephen had done in the promotion of the gospel. Just when things were beginning to go out of hand, God sent Barnabas, whose name means "Encourager" to convince the disciples in Jerusalem that Saul indeed had a genuine conversion and was now one of them. He however continued to face opposition from the Hellenists. The Greek Hellenists were those Jews who were scattered all over the world and spoke the Greek language. To protect Saul, the disciples helped Saul get out of town by taking him to the seaport of Caesarea and sending him to Tarsus which was his hometown.

There is an old saying, which some attribute to St. Teresa of Avila, which says that God writes straight with crooked lines. And certainly, Saul was a very crooked line. For a moment imagine being in the place of Saul after the encounter at Damascus. Imagine everything that you thought about your entire life, all your convictions, all your beliefs, everything that you held close to your heart is taken away from you and what's worse you have no one to turn to. Though our human life often seems to be so full of weaknesses and mistakes, conflicts and confusions, God can achieve His purpose. The challenges we face in life are sometimes ways of God waking us up from our slumber and strengthening our faith. If ever you have felt down in the dumps, if you felt like there is no way out, we have Saul to look up to. Perhaps we cannot undo our mistakes, but there is no reason to let the mistakes define us. We can always bounce back. Saul who was the foremost persecutor was also undeniably the most instrumental in the spread of the faith. If you are in the position of Saul, if you are a crooked line, don’t worry, God can still write straight with you.

In the 2^nd reading taken from the first letter of John, John explains the source from which the Christians acquire knowledge about love- it is Jesus' death on the cross. Correspondingly, Christians should also lay down their lives for one another, that is, they should be ready to share their goods with those in need because authentic Christian love does not consist in empty words or speech but in truth and action. We see one of the most important constituent elements of Christianity, namely, that God's love abides only in those who love, that is, who show active and effective concern for others in need. Therefore it would be wrong to claim the riches are a blessing from God and therefore the rich are entitled to utilise such blessings for their own benefits. By practising love the Christians gain confidence in the presence of the Lord and the heart, here used to refer to the conscience, would not condemn them anymore. On the contrary, they will receive everything that they ask of the Lord because they obey his commandments. This commandment consists of two elements: believing in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and loving one another. Keeping this commandment leads to a mutual indwelling of the Christians and God. The evidence of this indwelling is the gift of the Spirit. Thus the Spirit dwells in the hearts of only those who love one another and not in those who claim to be religious but hate their brother and sister.

In the gospel taken from John, we are presented with the narrative of Jesus the true vine. There are two main themes in this narrative. The first is that of abiding in Jesus.  In the Old Testament Israel is frequently pictured as God’s choice vine or vineyard, nurtured with perfect care only to yield bitter fruit. In the gospel, however, though the vinegrower is still God, the vine is not Israel, but Jesus. What is the meaning of abiding in Jesus? First, it signifies that we cannot be ‘one-man armies’ in our lives. No matter how skilful or talented we are, on our own we cannot achieve much. It indicates loyalty or deep attachment to Jesus. The key to abiding in Jesus is to keep his commandments. So it could well be possible that we could be doing good works but if those works are not motivated by Jesus’ words and his message then most likely we are doing it for the wrong reasons. It therefore becomes imperative that we make God a part of the decision-making process in our lives. Discerning the will of God is required in all things especially major things like marriage, studies and jobs.

The second theme pertains to pruning and bearing of fruit. God is the vinegrower who “prunes or cleans” the vine. These terms are to be understood in the context of a community. The branches being pruned are the members of the community, and the bearing of fruit is the state of being disciples. The unfruitful branches in the community are cut off and thrown away to be burned. Though pruning might seem harsh, it renews the vine’s vitality as useless vines would drain the plant’s strength. No wonder that it is sometimes said that those who are closest to God suffer more. In our lives when we go through struggles and difficulties even when we are not at fault, we should bring to mind this imagery of pruning. Pruning, though difficult, helps us bear more fruit. Because Jesus has risen from the dead, He now continues to dwell among us. The imagery of the vine reminds us of the abiding, lasting, and permanent presence of Jesus in our lives. I pray that God writes straight with the crooked lines that each one of us is.

This month of May is also an important time for us in India as it is a time for general elections. In Mumbai especially the date for voting is 20^th May, hence please ensure that you are not on vacation at that time and you have verified your name on the voter's list beforehand. Each and every vote matters. May God bless us all.