In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us: “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.”
There is a great mystery here, one that
bears reflecting on a little. For us as Christians, we understand
that our actions are important, that they have eternal meaning and
value. The things that we freely choose to do affect who we are—and
we are creatures destined for eternal life, for better or worse.
However we also know that we don't
simply earn our own way to heaven.
That heresy, Pelagianism, was in vogue
during St. Augustine's time in the late fourth century and he and the
other post-Nicene fathers battled against it furiously exactly on the
basis of biblical evidence like today's Gospel reading. We don't
simply bear fruit on our own, by our own volition. We bear fruit in
God, through His grace.
This is really Good News, especially
for those among us who struggle with their own faults and
insufficiencies (I think that includes all of us, if we are honest!)
It means that God is not waiting for us to become perfect in order to
'accept us into His club'. The Church is not a club at all, where one
might merit membership. It is a living organism, this Body of
Christ—intimately joined to Christ her Head. A network of branches
joined to that Living Vine, rooted in the Father, who pours forth the
life and love of God.
This makes it possible, for instance,
to preach to a group of incarcerated young thieves, drug dealers and
gang members like I had the privilege of doing yesterday and tell
them in all truth that the way to true life and true humanity is open
to them—without waiting for the day when they finally 'shape up'.
The reality is that it is the almighty power of God that will
'shape them up' if they choose to accept it, choose to become
branches attached to the Vine that is Christ and receive His
nourishment—especially in the Sacraments and most especially in the
Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, the Eucharist.
God simply requires of them what he
requires of us: our free assent to allowing that process to take root
in our lives. We have only to desire that He work in us and refrain
from placing obstacles in His path. Thus we can take solace, even
when (as St. John says in the second reading) “our hearts condemn”
us, “for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.” If
we are joined to the Vine that is Christ then “we belong to the
truth and reassure our hearts before him.”
That membership is indeed open to all,
regardless of past sins and failings—and regardless of present
struggles. We see in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles
that the Church is Jerusalem is afraid of Saul “not believing that
he was a disciple.” I think this struggle of Saul for acceptance
sometimes plays out within our own hearts. We are afraid of our own
weaknesses and we have trouble believing that we are indeed
disciples. Saul experiences the doubts of the community, but we often
experience the greatest doubts about ourselves internally—we
condemn ourselves based on our pasts and don't give God the space to
show us the truth about who we really are.
What can we do? First, for ourselves,
we can lay down our doubts at the foot of the altar and concentrate
on joining ourselves fully to Christ in the Sacraments—making the
choice to accept and believe the promise that even now He has the
power to make us bear good fruit if we desire. Secondly, just a
Barnabas in the first reading takes charge of Saul and defends him
before his detractors, we can encourage others and defend them
against those internal detractions that they experience from their
doubts and weaknesses. We can help to hold up a mirror for them so
that they might more clearly see the power of God in their lives and
embrace their election in God as true disciples.
May the Almighty Father in His infinite
mercy allow us to indeed be bearers of that “consolation of the
Holy Spirit” which will draw us all into greater peace and build us
up even more into the living body of Christ our Savior who lives and
reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
