5th Sunday of Easter (B) 28 April 2024
What does it mean to be in union with Jesus? Like a branch to the vine (Jn 15,5).
It is more than just obeying Him, or asking for things. It is more like we dwell in Him or He dwells in us. We have a sense that we can reach Him at all times.
The contact may not be as clear as we would like it, but it is certainly better than no contact.
We do not see God as some distant entity from whom we seek favours, or as an angry being from whom we fear punishment, and ask to be spared.
It is more natural than that. When we pray we do not need to shout into the void, but we can call on Him with a quiet word – like Mary at Cana (Jn 2, 3).
How do we achieve or maintain such a union? There are many things we can do – come to Mass, pray frequently, ask pardon of our sins, do acts of kindness, forgive those who offend us.
These will bring us closer to God, close enough that we are joined to Him like a branch to a tree, drawing life from Him, and even bearing fruit. And if Jesus sees we are taking Him seriously He will prune us so that we can bear even more fruit (Jn 15,2).
It all helps deepen our link with Him, a link that we must never allow to be broken.
He is with us in every part of our lives, not restricted to churches or Sundays.
With His dwelling in us we are more able to know how to behave. We come to see things as Jesus Himself would see them. We take on His character, His ability to put others first, to sacrifice His own comfort for the good of others, to avoid all that tastes of evil.
We obey Him, not as in keeping a law, a cold impersonal process, but simply wanting what is right and good.
There are those who will say they can do good without Jesus. No doubt they do some good, but we need help to sustain our frail human nature.
To be a disciple of Christ requires a lot of learning; it is not just something we can do easily. Some things are easy but not all of them. Being Christian is more than just a breezy cheerfulness.
We might face persecution for instance. And we all have weak areas where we are vulnerable to temptation.
We need Our Lord to have the vision of what is good, and consistently so.
And we need also to seek to please Him for His own sake. This is the love that we can give back to God.
We cannot add to His glory but we can make it more visible, and this we seek to do.
We understand that He takes pleasure in us. He could do everything Himself but He wants us to be part of the process.
For example, God could feed a hungry person directly, or He can inspire someone else to feed the hungry. That way the goodness of God is given more scope and everyone comes out happier.
In the spiritual world there is no clocking off at 5pm, nor even holidays, as we always have the chance and the obligation to make God's glory better known.
God values our praise; it might seem improbable but He chose to create us so that we could know, love and serve Him.
We bear fruit from the vine, but also flowers in the garden. God creates beauty and He claims it from us too.
God wants to get as much out of us as He can, and this is not to exploit us but to give us more chance to receive and express His glory.
And we can grow in understanding of what pleases Him and why that should please us.
We are more than servants, employees, slaves, and the like; Our love for Him is not servile but filial. All glory be to Him.
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