FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER - Year B

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR B (Acts 9:26-31; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8) Theme: The Fruit of Risen Jesus is the UNITY: Let Us Be United to One Another Reflection Risen Jesus and the Gift of Intimacy - The gift of unity is the fruit of the Resurrection. We are called to participate and live this gift in our life by being united with one another. There is no division. There is no partition. We all become only one community and one family. Those who are united in themselves and with others give testimony to the experience of the Risen Life. This is the message that today’s reading offer us: If we are Lord’s, we are united and if we are not Lords’ we find ourselves divided. Let us examine and see what we are and how we are. Let us learn to be united to another and thus have a community of joy and love. - We are in the fifth Sunday of Easter. We are still within the time of the resurrection. We still experience the joy of the Risen Jesus. Day by day, we are nourished by the experience of the disciples of Jesus who have seen the resurrected life. Week by week, we are fed by the community experience of the first Christians. Every moment of Easter Time we are filled with the gifts of Risen Jesus. - The greatest gift that Jesus gives to us and to the world is nothing else than His Own Life. From the moment of his coming into the world in the Incarnation until his going back to his Father’s right hand, Jesus’ only mission is offer his whole self for the redemption of the world. He fulfills it first by the word and proclamation which include the numerous miracles. He completes it then by the deed and sacrifice on the cross in which he himself becomes the miracle for the world’s life. In the word, his mission was carried upon and in the deed, his mission was accomplished. In the resurrection his mission has been transformed into the Life-Giving Spirit. The greatest gift of life which he bought with the price of his blood and with the virtue of ultimate obedience, now he donates to those who believe and accept him. - Among such gifts of Risen Jesus, the gift of peace occupies the first place. The aspect of peace belongs, above all, to the inner being of the person, thus belongs to his interior life. The disciples have lost such an inner peace and interior calmness with the passion, suffering and the death of their master, Jesus. Once they have lost the peace they have become fearful and frightened. They closed themselves not for the contemplative life but with fear of losing life. Jesus knows the condition of his disciples. He also knows that the first thing they need is the faith that he is still alive and only then they will be at peace of mind and heart. For this reason, Risen Jesus, appears to them and gives them the gift of peace: peace to you! This is the first word of Jesus to his disciples. Jesus knows that just a word of peace is not enough but his very presence is required for their return to faith. Jesus does the same. He does not just send the message of peace but stands amidst them, makes them experience his presence, creates in them again the faith and finally injects into them the gift of peace. This is the message of the second and third Sundays of Easter: he donates them the peace. - Another significant gift of Risen Jesus is the gift of unity. The aspect of unity is the consequence and the continuation of the gift of peace. Inner peace and tranquility leads to the peace with others. As a result there will originate the unity between all the members of the believing community. This is the message that we have last Sunday and today: being united and belonging to the same flock of Risen Christ. Last week we have meditated upon the Good Shepherd. A shepherd who promised to give his life for his sheep becomes the True Shepherd who actually poured out his body and blood for his sheep. Jesus has brought back the dispersed lambs to the one flock so that there would “only flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Even today we have the same message. Jesus brings his disciples back to the unity: unity of brotherhood and unity of the one family of believers. Unity is the heart of the Risen Life - We are the people of resurrection. We are the people of Alleluia as St. Augustine would remind us. Above all, we are the people of the Lord’s Day, day of re-finding the life. This life is complete when it is lived not for the self but for others, after all Jesus did the same. Life is whole when it is lived together. Thus, there is a need for the union and communion to have the life of Christian faith. If only we share the Risen Life we are obliged to lead a life of unity. We are called to the life of communion: only then we are truly called a community. - In today’s first reading we have a great example of the unity of the disciples. We already reflected that the Risen Jesus has gathered together all his frightened disciples with the gift of peace. We have already stressed the point that even the first Christian community has this life of communion. But what happens in the first reading is totally different: a unity between the preachers of Christ and his persecutor, thus, between the apostles and Paul. Paul is coming to join the community of disciples. Even this is the fruit of resurrection. It is risen Jesus who has appeared and inspired the persecutor Saul and called him to be Paul and to be his disciple. Risen Jesus builds a bridge between his followers and his enemies. He gathers all under the same shadow of his life. Paul is united to the body of apostles: unity here is the gift of risen Jesus. The fruit of this unity is again peace. There is peace in the Church: “Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up” (Acts 9:31). - In the second reading of today also we have the similar message from St. John. In his letter, John emphasizes the rapport between God and his people. The rapport is the unity. As the result of the observation of the commandments, the faithful become part of God’s life and being. The words of John make this clear: “All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them” (1 John 3:24). This is the fruit of the Spirit of Risen Jesus: “By this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us” (1 John 3:24). The Spirit of Risen Christ is the Spirit of Love. This Spirit keeps all the followers of Jesus, with the same force of love, united. The unity between God and his people is now extended to the unity among one another. The unity is possible only love because the love is not anymore just a word or a language. It is more them that. It surpasses that. It becomes a fact and a truth. Thus, it is an action. Love in the action makes all the participants into a community. John also brings the link (or unity) between the faith and the love. Faith is only a profession: we say we believe. But it is complete and whole if it is not put into the fact and the truth of love. And love, as we have already seen, is an action. This unity is to be understood in order to have an integrated Christian life: faith and love abide in each other and if we are to united we have to be both the people of faith and love. - In the Gospel we have the highest mode of understanding the meaning of unity. The words like “remaining in” and “abiding in” express the intimate union that has to exist between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus opens the discourse with the scene of the vineyard. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the winegrower… Abide in me as I abide in you” (John 15:1-4). In the vineyard, the Father is the Owner and the Master. Jesus, the son, is the vine. But the vine is full only with the branches. Jesus describes these branches to be his followers. He also emphasizes the relationship between Him and His own. It was expressed also in the parable of Good Shepherd: “I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father” (John 10”14-15). The relationship is very profound. It manifests itself in the intimate communion. Today he expresses this relationship in the example of the unity between the vine and the branches. Branches in any way cannot have their own separate existence. They soon find themselves dried up if they are cut off from the vine. Therefore, the branches have only one life and that life within the abiding force of the vine. Bearing fruit is the ultimate meaning of the existence of branches in the vine. - With the fact and consequence of resurrection there is one movement forward in the relationship between God and his people. The expressions like “God is with us”, “God is for us”, and “God is beside us” and so on, have fulfillment in the resurrected expression: “God is in us and we are in God”. We not only belong to God but and above all, we are inserted into God and we are united to God. This is the fruit of the resurrection. The words and saying of Jesus before the passion have been fully realized as a fact after the resurrection. The effect of resurrection is that we have no separate and personal existence anymore. We are one community in which Jesus is the Head (and thus the Vine) and we are the Members (and thus the branches). Paul expresses this both in his personal experience and as exaltation to his community. He testifies his experience when he says “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20): he is aware that he is abiding in the Risen Jesus and Risen Jesus in him. He also exalts his believing community to remain in the Lord and for that it is indeed called: “You are the body of Christ and individually member of it” (1 Cor 12:27) and further “the work of ministry for building up of the body of Christ” (Eph 4:12). - If we call ourselves to be true Christians of the Risen Jesus we too have to live this intimacy with Him. If we really want to bear the fruits of resurrection of Jesus we are to live this unity. Our participation in the Word and in the Eucharist enables us to acquire this nature of intimacy and communion. Let us examine ourselves and see where we are. With Jesus we are everything and without Jesus we are nothing (John 15:5) - The source of intimacy between God and man and man and man is the same intimacy between the Trinitarian God. Jesus’ proclamation and testimony never missed this truth. In every word and action of his, Jesus’ only intention is to reveal the work of the Father in the power of the Spirit which comes out through him. John’s Gospel is full of these imagery exclamations of Jesus. One of such is today’s Gospel. As we have already seen in the last Sunday, (which is also quoted above), Jesus declares that he knows the Father and the Father knows him and finally they pour out the Spirit. Today’s gospel is more obvious: I am in the Father and the Father is in me. To sum up: o There is intimate union between the Father and the Son and the fruit is the Holy Spirit. o The same intra-Trinitarian gives force to the intimate union between Jesus and the Spirit and the fruit is the Church – the community of believers. o The same relationship is established between the Church and the world (We Christians and those outside) and the fruit is the love which is manifested in peace, justice and solidarity. - Being united to Jesus and its effect: A Psalm sings: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23). Paul acclaims: “When the Lord is with us who can be against us” (Rom 8:31). Jesus on his part proclaims: “Without me you cannot do anything” (John 15:5). This is the biblical revelation: away from God we lose ourselves. But this is one side of the world. There is second side: the philosophical and technological world which promises that even without God man can do anything. How can we balance this? What can be the answer to the world which believes in itself and which tries to be God? o The biblical answer: In fact, this is the first temptation: the first man wanted “to be like God”. He heeded himself to the temptation of the serpent. The consequence is that he lost the experience of the paradise: he lost the intimate relationship which he is gifted with. With the fall, man has become incapable of transcending himself because he has lost the grace-filled life. He needs an other capable and spirit filled savior and in Jesus man finds again his dignity and status of being united to God. o The existential answer: Man is aware of his ultimate freedom and he enjoys it every moment of his life. At the same time his everyday existence shows him that he is in the continuous anguish and suffering. This is the paradox that man battles with within himself and with the realm outside him. The paradox is: that he is autonomous and free being on the one hand and on the other hand he is not in the position of exercising his power as he wants. Even philosophical understanding reveals that man is not unlimited though he can enjoy his freedom ultimately. He is limited and it is his everyday experience. He is limited because his existence is restricted to the time-bound sphere. He is limited because he is in the midst of others with whom he has to relate and in his relation he has to give up his interests some times. He is limited finally at the point of death. His existence comes to an end with the death. One thing is made clear: he is not God and his will “to be like God” is insignificant. When he reaches to the end of his life and is facing his death he becomes aware of his limitedness and at least at the moment he cries out for help: a help that has to come only from above and from the unlimited being what we Christians call God. o Many religions express their faith in their gods. It is true that we have to respect the religious feeling and sentiments of others. On the other hand, we know the truth that our God is true God and the Sustainer of the World. It is also true that each religion claims this aspect of salvation. But who has the capacity to bring out the fallen man? Not the god who miraculously save his people. The claim of many religions is that their god is the savior and he appears in the various forms (avatars) and brings out his people in the magical manner. But can this be true claim? o Jesus is the true answer of God: Man is fallen deep down in the hade having no hope for himself and yet yearning for transcendence and crying for help. For this any god who can do miracles is not enough. Miracles can only create emotional confidence in man but they cannot ultimately change life. Only a full participation in the condition of man will make the man to realize his own situation. Therefore, there is a need for someone who can reach him; someone who can assume their form; someone who can experience their nature; someone who can carry their sufferings in himself; someone who can experience the same existential fear of death; someone who can descend to the bottom where man lies down; and finally someone who can rise up himself and thus has the power to rise up others. o It is in Jesus that God has provided an answer to the paradox of human existence because Jesus has taken the human form; he made himself a servant to man; he carried in his body and mind all possible sufferings that man faces; he finally went through also the fearful death; he has descended into the earth so that he can rise up the man fallen and lying there; finally, he is risen revealing that he has the power to give life and to break open the paradox of man. o What Jesus has done is not just a miracle. Yes, indeed, he has done many miracles but what happened. The people had an emotional faith. When the difficulties and temptations have come they have given up their faith and blamed the one who has done the miracles. Therefore, miracles and the magic will not answer the paradox of man. Only an action will help. Jesus’ Action was Complete on the Cross: sign of both pain and glory. He underwent both of them. He knows both sides of the paradox. In fact, he lived and experiences the paradox within himself. Therefore, only Jesus is the Answer of God to the World. o Therefore, we believe in Jesus and our faith is proclaimed not by miracles but by our love in action. Once again John helps us understand better: “This is the commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just he has commanded us” (1 John 3:23 – second reading). Our faith is useless if we do not have love and our love remains only a emotional feeling if we do not put it in the profound action of the cross: both in pain and in joy. o In this sense alone, we are everything with Jesus and we are nothing without Jesus. The world thinks that it can exist without God. In fact it does. Yet, it has the paradoxes around it. We find love and solidarity in the world because of the Christianity and those who have good will and spirit for the humanity. But, we find all the more injustice, arrogance, power, tendencies of superiority and numerous wars and what could be the reason for this if not “irreligious or unchristian man” who wants to be “like God” and who treats himself as god or demigod? We have to be thus the centre of unity between the life of Jesus and life of the world: we have to live and promote the intimate union and brotherhood in the human community, the world. - Attitude of prayer in the aspect of Intimacy: (John 15:7 and 1 John 3:22 – gospel and second reading of today): “If you remain in me and words remain in you, you ask want you want and it will be done” is the Jesus’ saying in John. “Whatever we ask, we will receive from him because we observe his commandment and do what is pleasing to him” is the John’s admonition to his community of faithful. In these two sayings we have one common element: attitude of prayer (asking). o Often we experience that our prayer is not heard. We prepare ourselves to blame God for not answering our prayers. We utilize all the forms of prayers and all the modes of prayer like a litany or a novena to the saints. We go to the pilgrimages. We do all that we can do. And finally we are disappointed and discouraged when we find that God has not heeded our prayer. o Did we ask at time why this happens? Before blaming God and murmuring against him did we examine and see who is at fault? Do we really understand what prayer is? Did we ever measure our attitude in our asking God for a favor? For all these we have answer today. If not in other passages of the bible, at least here in the above quoted passages we have a reply for our doubts. o Jesus promised that our prayers will be surely heard and will be accepted. But there is a certain condition: it is not a condition which delimits us but a condition which demands our attitude. Before we ask there is something else to do. “We have to follow his commandments” would say John. “We have to remain in him and his words in us” would say Jesus. We have to examine and see whether we really are doing this before we could ask some favor. Therefore, first of all, we have to learn to listen to him and follow what he says and then what we ask in prayer would certainly be answered. o If we are already united to Jesus as he demands such an attitude from us, we have different meaning prayer. If we are already in Christ we don’t need anything else. In Jesus we are and we have everything. Once we are filled with Jesus we don’t ask for anything worldly. Then what is the meaning of asking or prayer here? Here prayer is no more just asking for a prayer but it is transformed into the occasion for God’s glory. God is glorified in us (John 15:8 – “in this my Father is glorified”). Our prayer becomes a living for God. Our prayer becomes a loving others. Our prayer becomes a personal offering of Glory to God. o Therefore, here we have two stages of prayer: first, asking God for something with the attitude of following his words; and second, there is no formal prayer but only glorifying God. If we are in the first stage we have to strive to climb up to the second. If we are already in the second stage we ask nothing, instead we give out (sacrifice/renounce) everything to God’s glory and for the well being of our neighbors. Conclusion: The two stages of prayer also are the fruit of our intimate union with God. Finally, as we are still reaping the gift of the resurrection, today we are called here to collect/embrace this gift of unity. Therefore, we always bear this in mind (our thoughts) and heart (our daily life) that: The Fruit of Risen Jesus is the UNITY and that Let Us Be United to One Another.