The True Vine of Love
With the wish to understand that if we stay united to Christ, true Vine, we will give fruits of love and life in peace.
Roman Rite – Fifth Easter Sunday – Year B – April 29, 2018
Acts 9, 26-31; Ps 22; 1 Jn 3: 18-24; Jn 15: 1-8
1) The real Vine[1].
Last Sunday, the Liturgy of the Church presented us Christ the good and true shepherd, today it presents Him as the true Vine.
In the Old Testament the vine, which was planted by Noah after the deluge, marked the beginning of an era. With the Song of Songs it became the symbol of the bride. This comparison was used by Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and the Psalms to indicate the people of Israel as the bride of the Lord who often proved unfaithful.
In the New Testament, the apostle Saint John introduces a change of perspective. The vine is no longer the people of Israel, but Jesus himself. Therefore, the members of God’s people are in intimate and close relationship with the Son of God, who gives them the lifeblood.
In fact, in the Gospel written by the beloved disciple of Christ, the vineyard of God is no longer Israel, but the Son. Not only that, he also says that the vineyard consists of only one vine and that vine is Jesus himself. He is the true vine of the Father, He is the new Israel.
The true vine is the only one able to finally produce the expected fruits, which the Farmer was looking for in Israel.
The “true” vine is the one that produces fruit. This vine contrasts with the “false” and sterile vine, which does not produce fruit. Christ is the vine that produces the fruit of the love of the Father and of the brothers. His Son becomes the Son of Man, and Christ is the “true” vine that produces the fruit desired by God, the true grape: the sweet fruit which is love.
The Father-Farmer is not satisfied with a modest fruit, he is looking for much fruit. Christ, the true vine bears fruit [2] through us, the branches, if we stay in the trunk becoming capable of a gift of love bearing much fruit.
This is why the Father takes care of the vine, cutting off the useless branches and pruning the others. If it is the vine that gives life to the shoot, it is the Farmer who favors the vitality of the branch and its gift-giving capacity. We must allow ourselves to be pruned, that is to be purified by the wise and loving hands of the Father. Our perfection does not consist so much in striving demanding paths of the soul, but in abandoning ourselves in the hands of the Father, who makes fruitful our capacity to love.
If we pray every day God, loving Him, and we love our neighbor, sharing with our brothers the true bread and living of mutual love and mercy, our staying in Christ will be truly bearing fruits of true life on earth and in heaven.
2) Remaining in Christ.
As branches of the vine, it is essential for us to remain in Christ, to dwell in Him, to let ourselves be loved, to cling to Him and to His outstretched arms crucified by love. This is the plan of the Christian life.
To remain in Him does not mean inventing who knows what. It is simply to be crucified with Him, taking our daily cross.
To remain in Him is to stay where He leads us, in the concrete history of our everyday life that we are called to live aware that “without Him, we can do nothing” (cf. Jn 15: 5). To a man who asked him: “How is it possible to keep man’s freedom together with not being able to do anything without God?”, John the Prophet, who lived in the Gaza desert in the fifth century, replied: “If man inclines his heart towards the good and asks God for help, he receives the necessary strength to carry out his work. Therefore, the freedom of man and the power of God proceed together. This is possible because good comes from the Lord, but it is accomplished thanks to his faithful (cf. Ep. 763, SC 468, Paris 2002, 206). The true “remaining” in Christ guarantees the efficacy of prayer, as Blessed Guerric d’Igny writes: “O Lord Jesus … without you, we cannot do anything. You are the true gardener, creator, cultivator and guardian of your garden that you plant with your word, irrigate with your spirit, and grow with your power “(Sermo ad excitandam devotionem in psalmodia, SC 202, 1973, 522).
To remain is a gift to be asked in order not to detach us from Him, Love that becomes our home. If we do not ask, if we are not beggars of Love, we cannot receive it as a gift.
To remain in him, growing in the awareness to live in this house and cultivating the feeling of gratitude because a grateful heart is a faithful heart, pleased to be loved by God, to love the brothers, and to be a friend of Christ, who does not wants servants but friends. Being a friend of Jesus means accepting his person, it means accepting his love for us, it means loving him and loving our neighbor.
A special example of this acceptance of Christ and of this adherence to him is that of the consecrated Virgins. These women are called to be witnesses in the world of the faithfulness of God who is the guardian of theirs.
They are faithful to the Word addressed to them by God from the day of baptism and that over time has taken the form of a call to live the Christian vocation in the particular form of virginal consecration.
They are faithful as brides to their Spouse because the characteristic of the consecrated of the Ordo Virginum is to live their being brides of Christ in the vigilant custody of the promise of Jesus: “Yes, I come soon!” (Rev 22:20) and to be a voice that, in the gratuitousness, responsibility and pure freedom of relationships, shouts to the Church and to the world: “Behold the Bridegroom! Go to meet him “(Mt 25: 6).
Faithful to Christ, the women of Ordo Virginum are bearers of the Word of the Beloved. It is from the ever faithful love of God that they draw strength in persevering in the embrace of their virginity for the Kingdom of heaven (Mt 19, 12) and committing themselves to live every day with authenticity and concreteness the Love that manifests the face of God.
Just as Christ remains in the love of God the Father, so these disciples, wisely pruned by the word of the Master (cf. Jn 15: 2-4) loved virginally as Spouse, remain in Christ as fruitful branches that produce abundant harvest. In fact, the dedication to the meditation of the Sacred Scripture and to prayer is not experienced by them as a withdrawal into themselves, but as an enlargement of the heart to embrace the whole of humanity, especially the one that suffers (cf. Pope Francis, Vultum Dei quaerere, n 16). Remaining firmly united to Christ as branches to the Vine, these consecrated women are also associated with his mystery of salvation, like the Virgin Mary, who at the Cross remained united to the Son in the same total donation of love.
Acts 9, 26-31; Ps 22; 1 Jn 3: 18-24; Jn 15: 1-8
1) The real Vine[1].
Last Sunday, the Liturgy of the Church presented us Christ the good and true shepherd, today it presents Him as the true Vine.
In the Old Testament the vine, which was planted by Noah after the deluge, marked the beginning of an era. With the Song of Songs it became the symbol of the bride. This comparison was used by Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and the Psalms to indicate the people of Israel as the bride of the Lord who often proved unfaithful.
In the New Testament, the apostle Saint John introduces a change of perspective. The vine is no longer the people of Israel, but Jesus himself. Therefore, the members of God’s people are in intimate and close relationship with the Son of God, who gives them the lifeblood.
In fact, in the Gospel written by the beloved disciple of Christ, the vineyard of God is no longer Israel, but the Son. Not only that, he also says that the vineyard consists of only one vine and that vine is Jesus himself. He is the true vine of the Father, He is the new Israel.
The true vine is the only one able to finally produce the expected fruits, which the Farmer was looking for in Israel.
The “true” vine is the one that produces fruit. This vine contrasts with the “false” and sterile vine, which does not produce fruit. Christ is the vine that produces the fruit of the love of the Father and of the brothers. His Son becomes the Son of Man, and Christ is the “true” vine that produces the fruit desired by God, the true grape: the sweet fruit which is love.
The Father-Farmer is not satisfied with a modest fruit, he is looking for much fruit. Christ, the true vine bears fruit [2] through us, the branches, if we stay in the trunk becoming capable of a gift of love bearing much fruit.
This is why the Father takes care of the vine, cutting off the useless branches and pruning the others. If it is the vine that gives life to the shoot, it is the Farmer who favors the vitality of the branch and its gift-giving capacity. We must allow ourselves to be pruned, that is to be purified by the wise and loving hands of the Father. Our perfection does not consist so much in striving demanding paths of the soul, but in abandoning ourselves in the hands of the Father, who makes fruitful our capacity to love.
If we pray every day God, loving Him, and we love our neighbor, sharing with our brothers the true bread and living of mutual love and mercy, our staying in Christ will be truly bearing fruits of true life on earth and in heaven.
2) Remaining in Christ.
As branches of the vine, it is essential for us to remain in Christ, to dwell in Him, to let ourselves be loved, to cling to Him and to His outstretched arms crucified by love. This is the plan of the Christian life.
To remain in Him does not mean inventing who knows what. It is simply to be crucified with Him, taking our daily cross.
To remain in Him is to stay where He leads us, in the concrete history of our everyday life that we are called to live aware that “without Him, we can do nothing” (cf. Jn 15: 5). To a man who asked him: “How is it possible to keep man’s freedom together with not being able to do anything without God?”, John the Prophet, who lived in the Gaza desert in the fifth century, replied: “If man inclines his heart towards the good and asks God for help, he receives the necessary strength to carry out his work. Therefore, the freedom of man and the power of God proceed together. This is possible because good comes from the Lord, but it is accomplished thanks to his faithful (cf. Ep. 763, SC 468, Paris 2002, 206). The true “remaining” in Christ guarantees the efficacy of prayer, as Blessed Guerric d’Igny writes: “O Lord Jesus … without you, we cannot do anything. You are the true gardener, creator, cultivator and guardian of your garden that you plant with your word, irrigate with your spirit, and grow with your power “(Sermo ad excitandam devotionem in psalmodia, SC 202, 1973, 522).
To remain is a gift to be asked in order not to detach us from Him, Love that becomes our home. If we do not ask, if we are not beggars of Love, we cannot receive it as a gift.
To remain in him, growing in the awareness to live in this house and cultivating the feeling of gratitude because a grateful heart is a faithful heart, pleased to be loved by God, to love the brothers, and to be a friend of Christ, who does not wants servants but friends. Being a friend of Jesus means accepting his person, it means accepting his love for us, it means loving him and loving our neighbor.
A special example of this acceptance of Christ and of this adherence to him is that of the consecrated Virgins. These women are called to be witnesses in the world of the faithfulness of God who is the guardian of theirs.
They are faithful to the Word addressed to them by God from the day of baptism and that over time has taken the form of a call to live the Christian vocation in the particular form of virginal consecration.
They are faithful as brides to their Spouse because the characteristic of the consecrated of the Ordo Virginum is to live their being brides of Christ in the vigilant custody of the promise of Jesus: “Yes, I come soon!” (Rev 22:20) and to be a voice that, in the gratuitousness, responsibility and pure freedom of relationships, shouts to the Church and to the world: “Behold the Bridegroom! Go to meet him “(Mt 25: 6).
Faithful to Christ, the women of Ordo Virginum are bearers of the Word of the Beloved. It is from the ever faithful love of God that they draw strength in persevering in the embrace of their virginity for the Kingdom of heaven (Mt 19, 12) and committing themselves to live every day with authenticity and concreteness the Love that manifests the face of God.
Just as Christ remains in the love of God the Father, so these disciples, wisely pruned by the word of the Master (cf. Jn 15: 2-4) loved virginally as Spouse, remain in Christ as fruitful branches that produce abundant harvest. In fact, the dedication to the meditation of the Sacred Scripture and to prayer is not experienced by them as a withdrawal into themselves, but as an enlargement of the heart to embrace the whole of humanity, especially the one that suffers (cf. Pope Francis, Vultum Dei quaerere, n 16). Remaining firmly united to Christ as branches to the Vine, these consecrated women are also associated with his mystery of salvation, like the Virgin Mary, who at the Cross remained united to the Son in the same total donation of love.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten