5th Sunday of Easter

5^thSunday of Easter Year B 2018:

Jesus says in the gospel: I am the vine, you are the branches, remain in me.  This image of the vine is an ancient one.  It even goes back to before the time of Jesus.  The prophets would call Israel the vine of God.  Grapevines were something the people knew.  It was a down-to-earth kind of image.  But, for us, maybe it seems a bit more removed. Not everyone is an expert in grapevines anymore.  But, the analogy is easy to pick up.  Christ is the vine.  He is the source.  All energy and life flow out from him.  If we want to be filled with the joy of being his disciple, it is necessary for us to be connected to him.  The word he uses over and again in this passage is “remain.”  

So, a good question to ask ourselves is: what kind of branch am I?  Do I feel like a green and tender branch that is filled with the life and spirit of God? Or, do I feel like a dried out old cracked branch that is good for nothing but burning?  Somewhere in between?  The formula is simple: remain in me.  But, the challenge is to make it happen.  The life of faith has to have concrete expression, or it won’t happen at all. 

Friday, we had a retreat for our 8^thgrade students. They are all getting ready to venture out into the wild world of high school.  They will be going through big changes.  They will have many things that could cause them some stress and anxiety. And, really, our lives are much the same.  We have so much in our lives that can cause us difficulty.  So, I gave them three little steps for growing in their life of prayer.  I think these three steps are a good way to put “remain in me” into action in our daily lives.

Step one is daily prayer.  If we don’t talk to God every day, it’s really tough to be connected to him. If we don’t communicate with God, it’s really hard to be his friend, let alone his disciple.  We should never let a day go by without prayer.  But, for many people, we don’t really know how to pray. It’s not overly complicated. Prayer is different for each person, because prayer is personal.  Prayer is a conversation with God.  Prayer is living with God.  So, if you want God’s life and love to flow through you, make sure you pray every day.

Second step is worshipping God at Mass, especially on Sunday. I don’t have to convince all of you of the importance of Sunday Mass, you are here.  But, how many of us know a friend or family member that has decided they don’t need to go to Mass?  Most of us I’m sure.  The sad thing about missing out on Mass, especially Sunday Mass, is that Mass is precisely the place where we can connect with Christ in a tangible concrete way. The Holy Eucharist is Christ.  He remains in us when we come here for prayer. People might say to me: I can pray in the woods.  That’s great. But, do you?  When was the last time you prayed in the woods?  I know the last time I prayed at Mass.  Making Sunday Mass a priority is important because it gives us a concrete chance to connect with God in a public and concrete way. So, if you know of someone away from Mass, you might just share with them that Mass is a great way to connect with Christ.  He is the vine, we are the branches.

Third step is to frequent the sacrament of confession.  We get all dried out as branches because of our sinfulness.  The best way to restore the life and love of God within us is to go to confession. Confession recognizes that sometimes we wander away from Christ.  Sin is when we do not “remain” in him.  But, by going to confession, we connect ourselves with the vine once again.  Our sins are forgiven and we are filled once again with his life.

So, what kind of branch are you?  Where is your life of faith right now?  If it’s great, that’s awesome.  Keep remaining in Christ and stay connected to him.  If it’s not great, no better time than now to turn back and reconnect with Christ.  Pray every day.  Worship God at Mass.  Go to confession.  These are wonderful ways to stay connected to Christ.

But, I don’t want to end today without mentioning what Christ expects of all of us.  Remaining in him is a great outline for the spiritual life.  But, what’s the goal?  Christ wants us to bear fruit.  Sometimes we can get just a little bit self-centered and think that the spiritual life is all about our connection to Christ for our own sake. But, that forgets that Christ wants us to carry out his works in the world.  If we are not bearing fruit, then what are we doing?  At the end of our lives, each of us will be asked that question: did you bear great fruit?  If you need some ideas on how to bear fruit, just look at the banners in the back of the church.  These banners connect this image of the vine with the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. These actions produce fruit in the world because they extend God’s love and mercy to those in need.

Today as we celebrate this Holy Eucharist, we connect with Christ once again.  He remains in us and we in him.  But, then as we leave this Holy Mass, don’t forget to go and bear fruit.

Easter

Easter 2018:

Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  Alleluia is a word that means “praise be to God.”  Indeed, we say “Alleluia” tonight (today) and every day.  Praise be to God, Christ is risen from the dead. February 14^th2018 we gathered in this church.  Some of us very early in the morning.  We gathered in prayer, we received ashes on our foreheads, we celebrated the Holy Eucharist.  We ended that Mass, and every Mass during Lent, by singing Jesus remember me.  As we have been reflecting on these words of the good thief during these days of Lent and especially during this Sacred Triduum, these words always look to the future.  When the good thief uttered them, he was hanging next to Jesus on the cross.  Christ had not yet died, he had not yet risen.  So, these words looked forward to the glory of the risen Christ.  Today we celebrate that glory.  Today we celebrate the kingdom of Christ.  Today we proclaim the reality behind these words: remember me when you come into your kingdom.  Indeed, Jesus reigns in that kingdom now.

We proclaim that Christ has already conquered sin and death, but we do not yet experience that kingdom in its fullness.  We profess our faith that the Good Thief and all the saints already live in the paradise that Christ promised from the cross.  And yet, we are still on our journey of faith, we still await the kingdom, we do not experience it in its fullness right now.

Our lives are a strange tension.  We live in this present moment, but yet we long for something more. We live this human life full of pain, suffering, even death.  And yet, in the hearts of every human being we long for more.  We long for a life of peace, an eternal life of love and happiness. Every human heart longs for that. This is why we all find the message of the resurrection of Christ to be so powerful.  Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  This is what we all long for in our hearts.  We want to be a part of that kingdom.  We profess that the kingdom already exists; but, we do not yet experience ourselves.  It’s a real tension.

I’m sure we have all experienced this tension sometimes. We believe in the resurrection. We sometimes struggle with our beliefs. We know that God is there. Sometimes God feels far away.  We know that God loves us.  We sometimes suffer and are in pain.  

So, if you have this tension in your life, welcome to the club. We all have this tension.  You know what?  That’s ok.  It’s part of life.  I see it all the time in my own life and in the lives of people I meet.  Sometimes people come to me broken down and feeling quite distant from God.  Sometimes people come to me full of joy and feeling like God is everywhere.  Some people are in between.  So, where are you?  It’s ok.  The ups and downs are part of life.

This is one of the reasons why I love Lent and Easter. These two seasons represent both sides of the tension.  During the season of Lent we focus on our own wandering in the desert.  Lent symbolizes our life here on earth.  Our time in this desert is a time of testing.  In this life we experience pain, grief, loss, mourning, death, etc.  Lent is a time that always looks forward to the celebration of Easter.  Our life is a time that always looks forward to the new life in Christ’s kingdom.

Yet, today we celebrate Easter, which proclaims the other side of the tension.  Christ has already won.  The kingdom already exists.  Christ is risen.  We might be journeying in the desert.  We might experience trials and tribulations.  But, Christ has already won.  We experience glimpses of this in our lives.  It’s true we experience difficulties in life.  But, don’t we also experience joys?  There might be pain; but, there’s also love.  There might be dark, but there’s also light.  

Lent teaches us to sing: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom” as a way to anticipate our full participation in the kingdom in the future.  But, Easter teaches us to sing that song as a proclamation of faith.  Jesus is already in his kingdom, even if we do not yet experience ourselves in its fullness.

Human life is a life of tension.  We live with this tension every day.  We experience the darkness of sin and suffering; but we also experience the light of love, joy, and peace.  Lent and Easter are two seasons that go together as a way to represent this fundamental human tension.  

So, my friends, do not be afraid of this tension.  It is a part of our lives.  When we experience the darkness, make it a chance to call out to Christ and ask him to be our savior.  When we experience the light, make it a chance to proclaim our faith in the resurrection.  No matter what side of the tension you find yourself on any given day, “Jesus remember me” is a wonderful prayer.

Today we proclaim an important truth: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  Alleluia, Praise be to God.  Alleluia in good times, and in bad times.  Alleluia in the darkness, alleluia in the light.  “Jesus remember me” during Lent and during Easter; during the good times and the bad.  We proclaim today and always: Alleluia, Christ is risen: Alleluia.