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Thứ Ba, 20 tháng 5, 2025

MAY 21, 2025: WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

 

May 21, 2025


 

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Lectionary: 287  

 

Reading 1

Acts 15:1-6

Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers,
"Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice,
you cannot be saved."
Because there arose no little dissension and debate
by Paul and Barnabas with them,
it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others
should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters
about this question.
They were sent on their journey by the Church,
and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria
telling of the conversion of the Gentiles,
and brought great joy to all the brethren.
When they arrived in Jerusalem,
they were welcomed by the Church,
as well as by the Apostles and the presbyters,
and they reported what God had done with them.
But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers
stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them
and direct them to observe the Mosaic law."

The Apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5

R.(see 1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Alleluia

John 15:4a, 5b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord;
whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel

John 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 everyone 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."

 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052125.cfm

 


Commentary on Acts 15:1-6

We begin today an account of the very first Church council. Scripture scholars find many conflicting difficulties in the structure of the narrative in chapter 15 of Acts. All these difficulties may be explained by supposing that Luke has combined two distinct controversies in one text, along with their varying solutions. Paul distinguishes them more clearly in chapter 2 of his letter to the Galatians. For our purposes here, we need not go into these textual problems.

As often is the case, the matter did not concern a central doctrine of faith, but a tradition. Two issues are going to come up:

  1. Should gentile converts be obliged to observe the Jewish Law?
  2. What should be done to assuage the mutual cultural sensitivities between gentile and Jewish members of the Christian communities?

Then, as now, the community could be said to be divided between conservatives who saw the need for continuity with the past, and those who saw the need for change with changing circumstances. The issue at stake was circumcision.

Many of the early Christians, especially those in Jerusalem, were converts from Judaism, and among these were Pharisees. They believed that Christianity was simply a development of their Jewish faith and not a renunciation of it. And they believed that they should continue observing their Jewish traditions.

Circumcision, like many of the other practices of the Jews, was, at least for men, a crucial identifying mark of God’s people, even though the original reason for the practice may well have been hygienic and preventive. It was not by any circumstances a custom confined only to the Jews of ancient times.

With the acceptance of Gentiles into the Christian community, the issue of circumcision became a delicate one. Should the new non-Jewish converts be forced to undergo such a painful (and perhaps in their view a disfiguring) procedure? Was it really central to the Christian identity?

It seems that the Christians in Antioch were not enforcing it on their new gentile converts and this was causing some concern among Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. They sent delegates to Antioch with the strong message:

Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

Although they were given a hearing, they may not have represented all the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem, but a more legalistic group within the church there.

It is clear from Luke’s account that there was a deep conflict between the Jerusalem delegates (who may have been predominantly Pharisees) and Paul and Barnabas, who had seen how genuinely many Gentiles had accepted the Christian faith. They did not see that compulsory circumcision should be part of the package. It was, of course, a telling point that Paul himself, a Pharisee, was against compulsory circumcision for Gentiles.

As a result, a group from Antioch, including Paul and Barnabas and “some of the others,” went down to Jerusalem. Among those “others” could have been Titus, who was of mixed parentage, part Jewish, part Gentile. Paul mentions his presence in Galatians 2:1-3.

On the way, they passed through the territories of Phoenicia and Samaria, telling the Christians they met about their successes in evangelising the Gentiles in Asia Minor. This, in some respects, was a clever public relations act because they picked up a great deal of support from those they met along their way. They therefore brought with them to Jerusalem a fairly considerable constituency of support.

When they reached Jerusalem they gave the same message about their great success in bringing Gentiles into the Christian communities, and it is clear that they were cordially received by the Jerusalem Church.

But they were challenged by the conservatives of the day (converted Pharisees), who again, as in Antioch, insisted on the absolute necessity of circumcision for all converts. Perhaps they had Titus in mind. Although his mother was a Jew and his father a Gentile, he had not been circumcised, nor had Paul insisted on it. The whole group then proceeded to discuss the matter in depth. Tomorrow we will see the outcome.

There is much for us to learn from this experience of the early Church. There is certainly a need for continuity if the Church is to retain its identity and its links with its origins. That is why the Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, is the foundation on which our faith is built, and why we need to come back to it all the time.

At the same time, if the Church is to present its message in a way that is meaningful, it must also be ready to make the necessary adjustments in areas which, though they may have a long tradition, are not central and have outlived their meaningfulness. There will always be a measure of tension between conservative and progressive thinking. Both are necessary and a sign of a living Church. But this must be a matter of diversity and not division.

What is vital is that people on each side listen to each other and be open to frank and sincere dialogue. In spite of serious differences, we see that dialogue taking place in today’s reading.

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Commentary on John 15:1-8

Perhaps there are some of us who have never seen a grapevine (although we may be well versed in our wines!). But what Jesus says about the vine (a plant very common in Palestine) can be said about any fruit-bearing tree that we are familiar with, and the message is clear.

The vine is an image we find elsewhere in the Old Testament. Jesus uses it as a symbol of the Kingdom of God; all who belong to the Kingdom are part of the vine. The fruit of the vine can be understood in the context of the Eucharistic celebration. It also represents a life lived according to the vision of Jesus, a life filled with unconditional love.

Jesus is explaining to us what our relationship with him can be like, and indeed should be like. He compares himself to a tree, basically to the trunk of the tree. The cultivator of the tree, the one who gives it life, is the Father God. Jesus’ disciples are the branches. It is the branches which bear the fruit.

If a branch does not bear fruit, it is simply cut off. It is no good; it is just draining life from the trunk without giving anything in return. It is very easy for us to be that kind of Christian. We come to church in search of ‘handouts’, but give very little back to the community.

But even the branches which do bear fruit are pruned and have parts cut off, so that they will bear even more. Those who cultivate fruit trees or roses are familiar with this process and know how important it is.

What does this pruning consist of? Jesus explains:

You have already been cleansed [or pruned, the same Greek root for both words] by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you.

We are pruned, then, by our total identification with everything that Jesus stands for and by constantly cutting out of our lives everything that is contrary to the spirit of Jesus.

This involves a certain kind of asceticism, a denying of some of our natural appetites. This becomes easy as we are more and more overtaken by the vision of life that Jesus offers to us. We give up those non-Christlike things gladly and willingly. It becomes our deepest happiness and even pleasure to be always in Christ.

It is clear from what Jesus says that only those branches which are connected to the trunk can bear fruit:

Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

Without fruit we are dead branches but, on the other hand, the fruit is not just of our own making. It is the sign that Christ is working in us and through us.

The most outstanding fruit of all is, of course, the love we reveal in our relationships with God and with people:

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

Separated from Christ—always the result of our own choice—we are like a branch that has fallen from the tree. We wither:

Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Such separation is not physical. It is a separation of identity. It comes from rejecting or refusing to accept the Way of Jesus as our way of life. It is a rejection of life, and the choice of alternatives which can only lead to decay and death.

Finally, there is the great promise:

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it.

This is not to be interpreted as some kind of blank cheque, such as asking to win the first prize in a lottery or to have one’s enemy wiped out, or to be cured of a terminal sickness.

The promise is prefaced by an important and essential condition: we need to be in Christ and to have our lives totally guided by his words, that is, his teaching, his vision of life. And if we are with him, our prayer inevitably will be to be more deeply rooted in him—because he is the Source of all life and all Meaning in life.

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Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Easter Time

Opening Prayer

Lord our God, loving Father,

you have given us your Son Jesus Christ as the true vine of life and our source of strength. Help us to live his life

as living branches attached to the vine, and to bear plenty of fruit of justice, goodness and love.

Let our union with him become visible in our openness to one another and in our unity as brothers and sisters, that he may be visibly present among us now and forever.

Gospel Reading - John 15: 1-8

Jesus said to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more. You are clean already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you.

Remain in me, as I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, unless it remains part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a branch -- and withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire and are burnt. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get it. It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit and be my disciples.

Reflection

      Chapters 15 to 17 of the Gospel of John present to us the diverse teachings of Jesus which the Evangelist has put together and placed in the friendly and fraternal context of the last encounter of Jesus with his disciples:

      Jn 15: 1-17: Reflections around the parable of the vine.

      Jn 15: 18 – 16: 4a: Advice of how to behave if we are persecuted.

      Jn 16: 4b-15: Promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

      Jn 16: 16-33: Reflections on the farewell and the return of Jesus. 

      Jn 17: 1-26: The Testament of Jesus in the form of a prayer.

      The Gospels of today and of tomorrow present part of the reflection of Jesus around the parable of the vine. To understand well all the significance of this parable, it is important to study well the words used by Jesus. And it is also important to observe closely a vine or any other plant to see how it grows and how it becomes united to the trunk and the branches, and how the fruit springs from the trunk and the branches.

      John 15: 1-2: Jesus presents the comparison of the vine. In the Old Testament the image of the vine indicated the People of Israel (Is 5: 1-2). The people were like a vine that God planted with great tenderness on the hills of Palestine (Ps 80: 9-12). But the vine does not correspond to that which God expected. Instead of producing good grapes it produces sour fruit which is good for nothing (Is 5: 3-4). Jesus is the new vine, the true vine. In one phrase alone he gives us the comparison. He says: “I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.” Pruning is painful, but it is necessary. It purifies the vine, and thus it grows and bears more fruit.

      John 15: 3-6: Jesus explains and applies the parable. The disciples are already purified. They have already been pruned by the word that they heard from Jesus. Up until today, God does the pruning in us through his Word which comes to us from the Bible and from many other means. Jesus extends the parable and says: “I am the vine, you are the branches!” It is not a question of two different things: on one side the vine and on the other the branches. No! The vine does not exist without the branches. We are part of Jesus. Jesus is the whole. In order that a branch can produce fruit, it has to be united to the vine. It is only in this way that it can receive the sap. “Without me you can do nothing!” The branch that does not bear fruit will be cut down. It dries up and it is ready to be burnt. It is good for nothing, not even for wood!

      John 15: 7-8: Remain in my love. Our model is that which Jesus himself lives in his relationship with the Father. He says: “As the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Remain in my love!” He insists in saying that we must remain in him and that his words should remain in us. And he even says: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get it!” Because what the Father wants the most is that we become disciples of Jesus and, thus, that we bear much fruit.

Personal Questions

      Which has been the different pruning or the difficult moments in my life which have helped me to grow? Which has been the pruning or the difficult moments that we have had in our community, and which have helped us to grow?

      What keeps the life united and alive, capable of bearing fruit, is the sap which goes through it. Which is the sap which goes through our community, and which keeps it alive, capable of bearing fruit?

Concluding Prayer

Sing a new song to Yahweh! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth! Sing to Yahweh, bless his name! Proclaim his salvation day after day. (Ps 96: 1-2)

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