The True Vine

Jesus Christ is the True Vine!!! Once again, the Church hears the call to stay connected to the vine because we are the branches. This past weekend we heard the gospel about Jesus being the vine and us being the branches. Now, we hear it again on this day, John 15:1-8. The Church gives us these beautiful reminders and hopefully we take them to heart. My homily over the weekend began with the story about the statue of Jesus that was in a church heavily damaged by a storm. When the parishioners came in to look everything over they noticed that the hands on the statue were broken off and someone had hung a sign around the statue that read, "I have no hands but yours." Saint Teresa of Avila offers this quote that coincides with that story: "Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours; yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately at the world, yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good, and yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now" (Sunday Homily Helps, Franciscan Media). The commentator went on to say that Christ relies on the branches to continue the mission entrusted to them. Jesus wants us to remain connected to him, the true vine. As he says at the conclusion of the gospel from John, "By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." There is no Plan B, Jesus is relying on us, just as he relied on the disciples before us. In order to accomplish the tasks given to us, we need to stay connected to the vine through Mass, the Sacraments, and Prayer. Do not be afraid to stay connected to Christ for he is the true vine. With our connection to the vine, we are fed and nourished so that we can truly become the Lord's disciples and bear much fruit. Have a blessed day!!!