Jesus is the vine... we are his branches!

This Sunday Gospel reading comes from John 15: 1-8. [Jesus said to his disciples,] "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 2He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. 3 You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.

6 Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Last week, our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to us as the Good Shepherd whose flock know him, as they are his sheep. In today's Gospel reading, Jesus now teaches us another parallel to our relationship with God, this time that God is the vine grower and Jesus is the vine, while all of us are the branches.

This is very easy to interpret because Jesus virtually lays this out to us for easy understanding that God is the vine grower and therefore owns the entire vineyard, that of his chosen people on earth. If you've seen a grapevine, you will see how big it can grow with so many branches but all of them come from one vine. While the branches grow in any direction, they are connected to one vine.

As in any vineyard, the best way to make it grow is by pruning. In God's vineyard, we are already pruned because as Jesus said, "You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you." So you can say that whenever you hear or read the words of Jesus, you are being pruned. When you go to Sunday mass and hear the priest talking about the Gospel, you are being pruned. In a way, my writing this article can also be a way of pruning as we always talk about the word of God.

Since by now you already know that you have been pruned, ask yourself: Have you bore any fruit lately? So what kind of fruit are we supposed to come up with? Well, it supposedly means, if we have evangelized the Word of God to others. What do you do after Sunday Mass? Talk with the family on which part of the Gospel reading struck you?

Let me point out clearly that if you cannot even discuss what the priest spoke to you during Sunday Mass, then you're in some kind of trouble because Jesus clearly told us, "He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does, he prunes so that it bears more fruit." Very clearly we can see the hand of God working in those who bear fruit and if God sees that some branches in the vine of Jesus no longer bears fruit, the Father himself would cut those branches.

Perhaps it is time for you to seriously consider the reality whether you still need more pruning or whether you should already be cut and thrown away. This is a tough decision for Catholics to make, but this story is laid out clearly for all to understand. Nobody ever said that it was easy being a Christian. But we are all called by Jesus to spread the Good News and if we cannot do that, we are not worthy of being called Christians at all!

As in the story of the Good Shepherd, we traced it back to the Old Testament, the Parable of the Shepherds in Ezekiel 34. Today's Gospel also brings us back to the Old Testament; after all, Christians know too well that the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. Please turn your Bibles to Isaiah 5: 1-7 "The Vineyard Song"

"1 Let me now sing of my friend, my friend's song concerning his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press. Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes.

3 Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard: 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 Now, I will let you know what I mean to do to my vineyard: Take away its hedge, give it to grazing break through its wall, let it be trampled. 6 Yes, I will make it a ruin; it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers. I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it. 7 The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah are his cherished plants." I hope that we've given you our usual layman's interpretation about this Sunday's Gospel reading. Have a Spirit-filled Sunday!