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Cycle B
B215: If you and I are the branches and Christ is the vine (Jn 15:1-8), what is the role of the official Magisterium or teaching office of the Church (in this context)?
First, the context of this passage from John is one of "invitation," a beckoning of each one of us into the kind of "eternal intimacy now" that is found only in union with Christ. Jesus invites us to "live in him," and you just can't get any closer to Jesus than that! That is intimacy, and the Vine and Branches image is a superb illustration of the profound, loving attachment God has for each of us.
Jesus also warns us that we can "bear fruit" only through a holiness of life in union with him. If we are not living "in" him, then we are obviously living "apart from" him. So there is always a "choice" to be made: to obey or not obey him; to keep or not keep his commandments; to participate or not participate in the sacramental life he wills for us. All of us need "pruning" to help us get rid of those lifestyles and values that are not God's ways and God's values.
The roll of the Church is to be the "cultivated field," the fertile ground in which the Vine was planted by the hands of the heavenly "farmer." Christ, of course, is the Vine, and he is rooted in the Father. Furthermore, he wants each one of us to be rooted in himself, this Vine with an inexhaustible source of life and love for it's Branches. It is through His Church that we are helped to remain in Christ, to be rooted in the Vine. His Church facilitates and mediates passing nourishment to the Branches from the Vine, i.e., the sacramental and scriptural resources that are Christ himself.
Know Your Catechism! All of these images are vividly illustrated in our Catechism. Take this time to read CCC #787, 755, and 2074. And then renew your commitment both to nourish your life Daily from our life-giving Vine, and to humbly accept the teachings of His Magisterium! Your reward will be a deeper intimacy with the One who loves you eternally, and who died just for you!
Of all God's women saints, Joan of Arc had the most unusual mission: to lead an army into battle and restore her king to his throne.
Joan was a simple peasant girl, born in 1412. In 1420, the king of England, Henry V of England captured the French throne, setting aside the rightful king, Charles VII. When Joan was about 13, a strong but devout girl, she began to receive direction from God through the "heavenly voices" of St. Catherine and St. Margaret. Finally, she was told to go and tell King Charles, whose troops were held under siege by the English army at Orleans, that she had been sent to lead his army to victory. After her "credentials" were examined by a number of priests and scholars, Charles accepted Joan's offer. Thanks to her brilliant leadership, she put an end to the long siege in eight days and had the joy of seeing the coronation of Charles at Reims Cathedral on July 17, 1429.
Joan continued in the war, with diminishing support from her ungrateful king until she was captured by the Burgundians on May 23, 1430 and sold by them to the English. Pro-English Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais put her on trial as a witch and heretic. The trial was rigged against her in order to cast discredit on King Charles. Joan was excommunicated as a heretic and burned to death at Rouen on May 30, 1431. But when the English were finally ousted from France, a legitimate trial conducted 1449-1456 resulted in her complete rehabilitation as a patriot and a saint.
At the fraudulent trial, the learned churchmen had tried to trip her with tricky questions. Once they asked her "Are you in the state of grace?" No Christian can really answer that. Joan gave an inspired reply. "If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest creature in the world if I knew I were not in His grace." Even her enemies at the trial had to whistle at that brilliant answer.
... If our consciences have nothing to charge us with, we can be sure God is with us. (I John, 3:21). Today's second reading.
-Father Robert F. McNamara
Q371: There is a saying, "What goes around comes around." Is Saul (Paul) finally getting his `inevitable' due, by becoming one of the persecuted? Is that the message for each one of us?
In the First Reading today (Acts 9:26-31) we discover that "Saul" finally experiences what he had been doing himself: the Jewish "persecutor-hunter" now becomes the Christian "hunted," as some of the Greek-speaking Jews with whom he had been debating in Jerusalem now want to kill him. But this is not a case where theories come into play, such as "karma" and/or the "Rev. Ike prosperity gospel" - that good things will happen to good people. One only has to read the Book of Job to see that the "prosperity principle" collapses under the weight of evidence. The reverse "hardship principle" also falls by the wayside, after the teachings of Jesus (e.g., Luke 13:1-5).
Two of the several messages for us in today's First Reading deal with transformation and consequences. First, Saul had been completely transformed by Jesus through his experience of the Risen Lord on his journey to Damascus. But even that transformation did not convince the disciples in Jerusalem to trust him; so it took a believer like Barnabas to explain to them the change in Saul. Barnabas was receptive to seeing the power of the Lord at work in other people. Are we receptive also, or have we put everyone in "little boxes"?
Secondly, Saul (St. Paul) did in fact experience consequences from his actions of proclaiming his new-found faith. He became a target for attack. This is always a possibility, even a probability for Christians today who proclaim their faith boldly. But do we proclaim our faith, or do we remain silent from fear or from ignorance of our scripture and tradition?
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! The Church is almost "guaranteed" persecution, trials that will come to help her become perfected in obedience to Christ (CCC #769). There will even be a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers (CCC #675). Nevertheless, we are called to keep the faith, profess it, and live it, even under persecution, because all these things are necessary for salvation (CCC #1816).
Q527: The gospel today (John 15:1-8) speaks of remaining “on the vine.” Are not all Christians attached to the vine which is Jesus?
Several years ago a preacher friend in the state of Washington (Rev. Donald Hoffman) used a pregnant line of prose that I will never forget. He said: “Staying attached to the vine is easier for a Grape than for a Human.” I have reflected on that bit of wisdom many times over the years.
Today we have a lot of folks who claim to be “vine-clingers.” In other words, they “say” that they are Christian, but then they insist on upholding attitudes and practices that make that claim a statement of sheer hypocrisy. Examples abound! They see nothing wrong with killing babies in the womb; they encourage capital punishment in a society that can be protected many other ways; they endorse homosexual “marriages” and relationships that cannot produce new life (which is the fruit of a true sacrament of marriage); they support only those values that agree with their opinions, rejecting anything called “absolute” truth.
It is easy to “finger point” at those who disagree with the absolute moral values upheld by the Tradition of the Catholic Church ever since the days of the Apostles. But we must remember that the very souls of dissenters are at risk. Accordingly, our mission as baptized disciples of Christ must also include praying that the Holy Spirit transform them (and us) into the image of Jesus. All of us need pruning, to enable God’s word to bear fruit in our lives. Our gospel is very clear today: one cannot bear fruit unless one remains on the vine – i.e., remains “in Jesus,” faithful to the Tradition and its values that have been passed down from Jesus to the Apostles to their validly ordained successor bishops, and then to us. Be humble! Remember that the Grape has an easier job that we do!
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! The Holy Spirit desires to work within us, and will teach us to understand absolute truths if we will permit him (CCC #737). How receptive are you to the teachings of the successors of the Apostles, the Bishops (CCC #861,862)?
