Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter 2024
The Vine (Jn 15)
Despite generous efforts here and there, vines are not a strong feature of the landscape of the Isle of Wight; at least for the time being, for we do not know what global warming has in store for our local agriculture. That makes it even more striking for us that when Jesus wants to speak of the life which, by His gift, we share with Him, He does not use the image of the Body, which we find for instance in St Paul, but the image of the vine. Jesus does not seem interested in the multiple functions of the different members of the body. Rather, He wishes to stress the one living reality which we can observe in any plant, the organic unity of a life which communicates itself from the roots to the shoot, the branches, the foliage, the flowers, and finally the fruits.
Of course, in the biblical world, the vine is Israel, the People of God. The Church, the People of the new covenant, inherits this designation. Christ and the Church share the same life. They are like one plant, one vine, the branches sharing in the life of the shoot, receiving all their life from the one root. The Church is rooted in Christ. The life of the Church is Jesus’ life continued in history, preached and diffused to all creation. This means that when you approach the Church, the Church leads you to Christ. The Church shares with you the light and the love, the truth and the salvation that come from Christ, that are to be found only in Christ.
Obviously when I am speaking of the Church now, I am thinking of the Church at its best, in its genuine identity: the Church faithful to Christ and one with Him in holiness; the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church” we confess in the Creed. We are all aware that this same Church is a reality undergoing a process of growth. By its mission, it always reaches out to new people. By its constant conversion, it moves from sin to holiness. This is an unceasing process in each and all of us. The Church is holy because it is rooted in Christ and, at the same time, it is always in need of conversion because it is a people made up of sinners called to conversion and all of them very much on the way to holiness.
Hence the pruning. Every “branch that does bear fruit, [the Father] prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Two remarks on this:
- The pruning is not a punishment. It is a sign that there is life, that fruit is already borne by the branch. When we, or our communities, feel ‘pruned’, let us not feel depressed or guilty.
- The fruit is what is important. The plant exists for the fruit – the wine for the grape and, eventually, the wine. “By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit”. The fruit releases the seed that will be eventually the origin of a new tree.
The life of the plant reaches its summit when the fruit can be harvested and feed another life. The plant does not exist for itself, but to support another’s life. Similarly, the Church does not exist for itself, but to bear the fruit of life, to give life to many.
At Mass, the “fruit of the vine and work of human hands” is offered so as to become “our spiritual drink” when Jesus, “taking the chalice filled with the fruit of the vine” gives thanks to the Father and gives it, saying: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood.”
It is probably enough for us to meditate gently on the profound image of the vine. As we do this, we slowly begin to see ourselves connected with Christ through Baptism, receiving the gift of His life in the Eucharist. Jesus Himself is the vine. He lives in us. He bears fruit in us. In a sense, He dies in us and we die in Him so that ever more life may be given, and the fruit of the vine may give life and joy to many, for the glory of God the Father.