Catechism Links [1]
CCC 2746-2751: Christ’s prayer at the Last Supper
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“Virgin and Child with a Bunch of Grapes”
by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1509-10 |
Commentary:
This story of St. Paul’s return to Jerusalem, the first of six mentioned in Acts, follows the first account of “Saul’s” conversion. It is the same visit mentioned in Galatians 1:18. We see how the news of his arrival is seen with alarm by the Apostolic College who meets with him only after Barnabas intercedes for him. Even at this early stage, St. Paul’s focus is on the Jews who were not from the region (“He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists …”).
St. Paul’s bold preaching earns him the same enmity he had earlier encountered in Damascus (Acts 9:21), and he is forced to leave into Galilee headed for his place of birth, Tarsus. St. Luke concludes this episode saying that the newly formed church was at peace and growing thanks to the efforts of the community.
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R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Psalm 22 is an individual lament. The psalmist, in unusually passionate terms, describes the devotion of the faithful and the trust that God’s rule over all will be just. The final strophe is a pledge of faithfulness for all generations to come. The psalmist gives the response to God’s covenant. It supports the idea from Hebrews 12:1-4 that this act of worship is done in community by the individual. In fact, the song presumes a communal worship of God. (“Let the coming generation be told of the Lord that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown.”)
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The ending of Chapter 3 from St. John’s first epistle speaks of Christians living a life of faith in Jesus, and how, in that faith, they are assured, through mutual love, that the faithful are in the Lord and the Lord also resides in them. In adhering to this most important of commandments, the Lord becomes indwelling. As a consequence of Christian obedience, the love of Christ and love of each other naturally follows.
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This selection begins the discourse on the vine and the branches – really a monologue on the union with Jesus. It is part of Jesus’ farewell speech. The familiar theme of the vineyard and the vines is used which has imagery in common with Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46 and as a vine at Psalm 80:9-17; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15:2; 17:5-10; 19:10; Hosea 10:1, the identification of the vine as the Son of Man in Psalm 80:15 and Wisdom's description of herself as a vine in Sirach 24:17. This monologue becomes a unifying tie that pulls the entire farewell speech together.
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Homily:
“I am the vine, you are the branches;”
The Gospel of story from St. John’s Gospel is like a familiar place we go to visit that floods us with pleasant and peaceful memories. “I am the vine, you are the branches”; that phrase gives us a feeling of being connected with Christ in a very personal way. At my house I have a vine. Some years back I built a small deck off the back of my house about 10 by 16 feet, and over the deck we built an arbor. I planted one wild grape vine the same year it was finished and let it grow up and over the arbor. It was for shade rather than grapes. That single vine grew to cover the entire arbor, draping down all four sides in a few short years. When people look at the cover it provides they often think there are several vines, but it’s just one. Each year now I have to keep it trimmed because it tries to grow onto the roof of my house. It clings to the siding and grows into shrubs at the sides. It’s because of this trimming I noticed something remarkable about grape vines. Once the branch is cut from the vine – it withers almost immediately. It is just now starting to leaf out otherwise I would have brought in a sample.
The monologue Jesus is starting with the Gospel today, beyond that feeling of connectedness, has other meanings and I thought I would tell a story to draw those out.
Many centuries ago, in a remote part of Northern Europe, on a small island in the Baltic Sea there was the small village, Varge. What was unique about Varge was, because it was so remote, it became insulated from the outside world. Its Christian founders initially had no clergy, only their basic understanding of the faith given to them by their ancestors. After some years a missionary priest joined them and this branch was once more connected to the vine.
For two hundred years there were virtually no outside visitors to their community. Infrequent merchants had to come by boat over often inhospitable seas and there was nothing of real value at Varge so the little trade there was, did not connect the town to civilization.
Like many small isolated communities the family units in Varge were very closely knit. The community, in fact, was so interdependent that it was very much like an extended family. The values held and taught in the community were those passed on by the missionary priest who was the moral and spiritual guide of the island’s inhabitants. Children in that community belonged to everyone; were watched over and taught by everyone. All in all, they were happy and content, for the most part.
Living in the community was a young boy named Jon. Jon’s mother and father had died when he was quite young. His mother had died in childbirth and his father a few years later in a fishing accident. Jon was bitter. He didn’t like the fact that his aunt and uncle, who had raised him as one of their own, made him work. When he was not being taught by Fr. Charles with the other children, he had to work with his uncle George, mending nets or baiting long lines (Varge was a fishing village after all). Jon didn’t like all the rules and every time he tried to sneak off and have some fun, someone from the village seemed to notice and soon his Aunt Martha or uncle would be giving him extra chores or making him go to bed early.
George and Martha loved Jon and tried to tell him that the life of faith and work would lead to peace in this life and the next, but Jon knew in his heart that there was something better.
In the spring, when George was 15, a trader came to the island. It was an exciting time for Varge. News of the outside world was always welcome (although not always pleasant). In this case the news was very bad. There was black plague in Poland and people were dying by the hundreds. Jon heard this with dread because as soon as the news had reached him that a trader’s barge was sighted, he had made a decision. He’d had enough of Aunt Martha and Uncle George; he’d had enough of Father Charles telling him that being connected to Christ was important for him. He didn’t need Christ and he didn’t need his aunt and uncle. He would hide out on the trader’s barge and make his own way in the world.
Not thinking of the possible consequences for himself or for his family, Jon packed a bundle of dried fish and goat cheese, a small flask of water and hid in the cargo hold of the small barge the trader used to visit the islands. Jon had to time it just right because his aunt and uncle said night prayers each night and Jon was required to join them. He knew, with a fisherman’s sense of wind and tides, that the trader would leave very early the next morning so, after everyone had gone to bed, he snuck out his window and got in the boat, hiding among the barrels of fish in the hold.
The boat had not been at sea very long when Jon started to regret his decision. It was cold and smelly. A few times he was awakened by rats running across his feet. When the boat docked a few days later, Jon was able to sneak off, but he smelled badly of rotting fish and bilge water. He was in the good sized city of Ventspils in what is today Estonia. He did not speak the language (only Polish) and was almost instantly lost. You see Jon, although he did not know it, had grown up in a community that loved him and cared for him, even when he didn’t want to be cared for. Here, no one cared if he was hungry or cold. They did not care if his stomach hurt or if he needed a bath and dry clothes. When he did realize this he was stunned. He wanted to go back but his pride would not let him. He had cut himself off from the vine and saw no way out. He began to wilt like a grape leaf plucked from its vine.
Finally, so hungry he was looking for rats to eat, he begged for food from merchants along the docks. The first week he didn’t have much luck, he was kicked and hit for being a pest by many of the merchants. Having him around was bad for business. Ironically, being bruised from the kicks and slaps coupled with his filthy cloths and sickly pallor got him some food scraps, mostly from wives who felt sorry for him. But his condition worsened and no one would help. He slept in the streets and became quite ill. It was in this condition he was found by Father Dominick. It seems that, once Father Charles had been told of Jon’s disappearance by his aunt and uncle, they figured out what he had done and had sent a message to Father Charles’ Abbot. The Abbot had sent word to his priests to keep an eye out for a young boy in trouble. It was only by the grace of God that Fr. Dominick had found him in time. Jon was rescued and reunited with his family. While they forgave him immediately, it took Jon a while to forgive himself. Eventually they all lived happily ever after.
The vine and branches analogy works well in reminding us of our relationship to the life-giving vine. Unlike the grape vine, whose branches wither and die quickly, Jesus the vine will always welcome back a branch cut away by foolishness, indifference, anger, or sloth. The branch will be healed and once more be invited to bear fruit.
As people of God, we are all encouraged to reach out to those who have cut themselves off from the life-giving vine. The small faith-sharing groups formed during Lent and still meeting are one way we strengthen our ties to the living vine. There will be more ways you can reach out to the lost in the coming months; to the "Jons" in your life to bring them back. That is the miracle of the vine and the branches – the Good Shepherd and his sheep. We are called to seek the lost and bring them back. It is never too late to find ones who are lost and invite them back to a joyful welcome.
Pax
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014
[2] The picture is “Virgin and Child with a Bunch of Grapes” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1509-10
