Pastoral Message – April 28, 2024
Hey Y’all,
It’s still Easter Season and on Sundays we’re reading through the Gospel according to John. Last week we heard Jesus say, “I am the good Shepherd”. This 5th Sunday of Easter we’ll hear Jesus teach, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower”. There are seven of these “I am” statements presented to us by Jesus in John’s Gospel. These statements indicate roles or titles or metaphors that give us a better insight to just who this Jesus is. Any slightly educated person hanging around a synagogue or in the Temple in Jerusalem would make a mental connection. These “I am” statements of Jesus are making a direct correlation to the name that God Himself gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I AM who AM”. Could it be that Jesus was connecting Himself to the Divine, to the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses? Yes, very definitely could be.
Now, everything I have just written may be already know to you. Maybe you’ve heard about this in other homilies, or in a Bible study somewhere. That’s fine. We should continue to think about the meaning of Jesus’ seven self-proclaimed titles. They tell us a lot about Jesus, the Christ. But I’ll take it one step further. These “I am” statements always have a relational aspect that turns the question back on us, the hearers of Jesus’ words.
Notice that today Jesus slips in a phrase that’s easy to pass over: “Remain in me, as I remain in you”. Wow, that turns the spotlight from the “True Vine” to all of us.
We’ll now have to ask ourselves just exactly how does Jesus remain in me? And what does it mean for you and me to remain in Jesus? I suppose if one has got an active devotional life of prayer and study they’re seeking to remain in Jesus. But are they producing fruit? That fruit thing seems to be the litmus test.
So, join me in thinking about what it is for us to remain in Jesus. And let’s intentionally invite Jesus to remain with us. And as we do so, let’s figure out how to give witness, beating fruit for the knowledge and love of God.
God bless,
Fr. Reynold
