MAY 06, 2012 : FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Fifth Sunday of Easter 
Lectionary: 53

Reading 1 Acts 9:26-31

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him,
not believing that he was a disciple.
Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles,
and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord,
and that he had spoken to him,
and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem,
and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord.
He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists,
but they tried to kill him.
And when the brothers learned of this,
they took him down to Caesarea
and sent him on his way to Tarsus.

The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.
It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,
and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32

R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear the LORD.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
"May your hearts live forever!"
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
all the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth;
before him shall bend
all who go down into the dust.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2 1 Jn 3:18-24

Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.

Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God
and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit he gave us.

Gospel Jn 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 every one 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."

Scripture Study

Happy Easter! This weekend we celebrate the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The theme of the readings this week is belonging. The first reading is a case study in not being able to go it alone. Paul, who became perhaps the greatest missionary the Church has ever had, was unable to even get started without help from other believers. The second reading reminds us that our faith must have practical, real life consequences. Without action, talk about faith like talk about anything else is cheap. The Gospel reminds us that we can do nothing alone. We must remain in and with Jesus in order to bear the fruit for which the Father is looking. If we remain connected to the Vine, Jesus Himself will bring about our fruitfulness.

NOTES on First Reading:

* 9:26 There is a difference in the tradition expressed here and the story as told by Paul in Gal 1:13-24 and in 2 Cor 11:32-33. The greatest difference is the absence in Acts of the three year stay in Arabia related in Gal 1:17. This, of course, would greatly change the timetable of events and probably implies that Luke is using an already existing Pauline legend or cycle of stories as his source rather than the letters of Paul. 

* 9:29 Here as in 6:1-7, the Hellenists were most probably Palestinian Jews who spoke only Greek and not necessarily Jews from the diaspora. The Hebrews were Palestinian Jews who spoke primarily Hebrew or Aramaic and who may also have spoken Greek. It has also been taken to stand for the traditionalists among the immigrant Jews of Jerusalem. 

* 9:31 In context, the period of peace enjoyed by the community is implied to be due to the change in Paul's career. This is in contrast to the previous time of persecution at his hands. In the section from verses 31-43, Luke introduces two different traditions concerning the miracles worked by God at the hands of Peter as he was making a tour of places where the Christian message had already been preached. The towns of Lydda, Sharon, and Joppa may well have had Christian communities that were made up of believers of both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 3:18 John frequently uses words like "Little children" as forms of address that are meant to express pastoral love for the people to whom he writes. For John and many early Christians the truth of one's words of faith was visible in that person's genuine love of and care for the poor expressed in the sharing of their material goods. 

* 3:19-24 Living a life of Christian love and of faith in Jesus assures us that we are abiding in God no matter what our feelings may tell us. Our confidence in prayer and trust in God's judgment is based on our obedience. This obedience is not limited to but certainly includes our strong belief in Christ and love for one another. 

* 3: 19b-20 Alternate translations for this passage are: "we shall be at peace before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for . . ." or "and before God we shall convince our hearts, if our hearts condemn us, that God is greater than our hearts." 

* 3:23-24 This is a summary of the commandments given in typically Johannine form. This is probably John's version of the double command of love given in Mark 12:28-31. For John "to believe" in the Son whom God has sent is equivalent to loving God. 

* 3:24 In 2:27, the "anointing" that one receives upon entering the community has been pointed to (John 3:5). The Spirit is the substance of the anointing and will be both a pledge of things to come (Rom 8:14; 2 Cor 1:22) and the power bringing it about as it inspires true confession which unmasks false teachers (1 John 4:2-6).

NOTES on Gospel:

* 15:1-16:4 In this long discourse on the union between Jesus and his disciples, His words become a monologue going beyond the immediate crisis of His departure from their midst. 

* 15: 1-17 This section is similar to John 10:1-5 in resembling a parable. Vineyards and vines occur often in the Old Testament as symbols for Israel. Vineyard is used in Isaiah 5:1-7 and then in Matthew 21:33-46. Vine is used in Psalm 80:9-17; Jer 2:21; Ezekiel 15:2; 17:5-10; 19:10; and Hosea 10:1. The identification of the vine as the Son of Man in Psalm 80:15 and Wisdom's description of herself as a vine in Sirach 24:17 serve as a further Old Testament backdrop for the application of this figure to Jesus. While secondary, some Eucharistic symbolism was also probably intended here (See Mark 14:25 where the expression, "the fruit of the vine" is used.) 

* 15:1 Jesus uses the word, "true," to indicate a contrast with the symbolism of the past. He is the true vine in which the symbolism is fulfilled 

* 15:2 This verse contains a word play on two related Greek verb ("takes away" and "prunes"). Tradition speaks of pruning away useless or fruitless branches (Jer 5:10; Ezek 17:7). This may have been aimed at those Christians who sought to "hide" their faith in persecution (12:42-43). 

* This parenthetical remark may be looking back at 13:10 with the intention of reassuring the disciples that they were not going to be pruned away. 

* 15:4-6 The language of the vine merges with the language of indwelling that is used in the farewell discourses (14:10-11, 20). The Eucharistic overtones that are present in both may have helped to bring about this combination. 

* 15:6 This refers to the common practice of drying the branches on the wall of the vineyard after they were cut off and using them later for fuel.

* 15:8 The disciples are now representatives of Jesus in the world and as such are seen as glorifying the Father as Jesus did.

 Meditation: “ He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit”

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."

(Don Schwager)

 I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people

‘Your love must be something real and active.’
Earlier this year I went to a funeral of a man with whom I had worked some years ago. He had been an inspiring person to us all, and I was very grateful that I was able to farewell him. A couple of months before he died, two of us visited him in his home. We met a joyful man, a man of peace, a man who was having rich experiences as family and friends from near and far were coming, as my friend and I did, to spend a little time with this wonderful person.

Patrick’s love had been ‘something real and active’. God lived in him and he lived in God. His goodness extended to all he met. Whether he was encouraging the quiet person, or giving practical assistance to all he encountered, his love appeared limitless. Bless him!
(Daily Prayer Online)

MINUTE MEDITATIONS 

Contemplative Prayer
The taste of God in contemplation is more precious than everything else; for, no matter what a man might wish for, it is nothing when compared to this. For when the spirit of a man stands before God and sees his happiness and tastes his delights, then in truth he as attained to paradise.
— from Saint Anthony of Padua

May 6
Blessed Gerard of Lunel
(13th century)

Gerard, born into a noble family in southern France, showed an early inclination to piety—so much so that he received the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis at the age of five. When he was 18, Gerard and his brother, Effrenaud, hid themselves in a cave on the banks of a river and began two years of living as hermits. Both brothers then decided to go on a pilgrimage, in part to discourage the many visitors to the hermitage who had heard of their reputation for holiness. Making their way to Rome on foot, they spent two years there, visiting its many famous churches and shrines.

They intended to continue to Jerusalem, but Gerard collapsed on the way. While his brother went to seek help, he left Gerard in a simple cottage near Montesanto, Italy, but Gerard expired before his brother's return.
Many miracles are said to have taken place at Gerard's tomb, making it a favorite place of pilgrimage. People who were afflicted with headaches or subject to epilepsy experienced special relief through his intercession. The city of Montesanto has long venerated Blessed Gerard as its principal patron. He is sometimes known as Gery, Gerius or Roger of Lunel.

Comment:

Gerard didn’t have much success in reaching his goals, including his hope to visit the holy places in Jerusalem where Jesus walked. However disappointed he may have been by all these setbacks, Gerard nonetheless managed to walk in Jesus’ footsteps throughout his life.

May 6
Sts. Marian and James
(d. 259)

Often, it’s hard to find much detail from the lives of saints of the early Church. What we know about the third-century martyrs we honor today is likewise minimal. But we do know that they lived and died for the faith. Almost 2,000 years later, that is enough reason to honor them.

Born in North Africa, Marian was a lector or reader; James was a deacon. For their devotion to the faith they suffered during the persecution of Valerian.
Prior to their persecution, Marian and James were visited by two bishops who encouraged them in the faith not long before they themselves were martyred. A short time later, Marian and James were arrested and interrogated. The two readily confessed their faith and, for that, were tortured. While in prison they are said to have experienced visions, including one of the two bishops who had visited them earlier.
On the last day of their lives, Marian and James joined other Christians facing martyrdom. They were blindfolded and then put to death. Their bodies were thrown into the water. The year was 259.