Today we celebrate the 5th Sunday of Easter.
The first reading speaks of the early Church living in “the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.” This is an example for us as well: we are not to become too comfortable in our faith, there should always be a healthy “fear of the Lord” a respect and a reverence for the Lord and the things of God. We can experience comfort and being comforted when we allow the Holy Spirit to live in us. This comfort takes place in a particular way when the Holy Spirit gives us His seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
In the second reading, Saint John speaks to us of our hearts, and how they at times condemn us, and at other times, give us reassurance. It is true that our hearts can speak with the voice of conscience. Commenting on this Scripture passage, the Catechism says, “Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed” (CCC 1781). So, the voice of conscience, properly formed, can help us to take ownership for past actions. At times, conscience can help us discover things from the past, sins that we need to ask forgiveness for. In the past, we may not have been aware of the sinfulness of these actions because our conscience had not been properly formed; or we were unwilling to admit to God and to ourselves the sinfulness of these actions. So, when people come to confession, and ask for mercy for sins of the past, it is generally a great grace. I say to them, “Jesus has given you a gift – He has enabled you to grow in your faith and has given you a new awareness about your past, so that you can repent of old sins, and be purified of them.”
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of Himself as the vine, and describes us as the branches. Since Easter we’ve encountered several images of Jesus Christ: He is the Sacrificial Lamb, He is the Good Shepherd, He is the Door, and today, He describes Himself as the Vine. Our Lord also describes God the Father as the vine grower, the master gardener, who cuts away dead branches and prunes good branches. If we are not in the vine, who is Jesus Christ, then we will be “in the fire,” as St. Augustine says (cf. Catena aurea, pg. 383, vol. 4, 2014). Those who are already cleansed by the word of God are called good branches, but these branches still need to be pruned. If you’ve ever pruned trees or shrubs, then you realize that it is not generally a delicate operation. You take cutters, either manual or powered, and you hack away dead branches, and trim live ones. Several days ago, ladies pruned and trimmed the plants and bushes around Our Lady’s Grotto, and hauled away a whole pickup-truck load of brush. Why would this image apply to us, why would God the Father need to prune us? As St. Augustine says, “God cultivates us…His culture consists of extirpating all the seeds of wickedness from our hearts, in opening our heart to the plough…of His word.” St. Augustine continues, “Who is there in the world so clean, that he cannot be more and more changed? Here, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (Catena aurea, pg. 380-381, vol. 4, 2014). God the Father carefully arranges certain situations in life that strip away our conceit, arrogance, stubbornness, and self-centredness. The Father prunes us by helping us cut away deadly addictions, such as to alcohol or pornography. The Father trims away disordered anger, envy, and jealousy. These situations of cleansing can take place, among others, in family life, at work, in the parish, or in religious life. All this serves to help us bear greater fruit, so that other people looking at us can give glory to God and benefit from our charity.
Today, we give thanks for yet another member of Christ who will be grafted on, who will be implanted into Christ, the vine. This will happen at the baptism after the 11:00 a.m. Mass, the fourth baptism this year. Baptism number five is already scheduled, later on in May. We are thankful for married couples, people of the parish, who are open to the gift of children, who are open to the gift of life. We are thankful for married couples who in the past were open to the gift of children, even though those couples may now be past child-bearing years. We are thankful for married couples who arrange their marital intimacy in such a way as to keep the marital act open to the possibility of a child, for couples who do not intentionally contracept or block the possibility of a child. We are thankful for couples living out the message of Bl. Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae.
So, let us live out a healthy fear of the Lord. Let us listen to the voice of conscience, properly formed. Let us be open to being pruned and cleansed by God the Father, as we remain in Christ, who is the true vine. May Saint Catherine of Siena pray for us. And may the Mother of God, Mary most Holy, intercede for us always.
(Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, April 28, 2024)