[Howdy, Church Fans! Deacon Mick had another good one this week. Don’t forget to check out the video on our YouTube Channel here. The whole Mass can be viewed here.]
This is a great time of year for me –
maybe for all of us.
I think I saw a couple of trees beginning to leaf out
and I see the snow melting,
the grass thawing and turning green.
The rebirth of nature gives us all the lift we all need
after a very cold, snowy, and dark winter.
After winter,
our mood begins to change as
we feel a new energy within.
This is the time of year when
people start thinking about putting a great deal of work
into their yards and gardens,
raking out what was left
of last years fallen leaves and dead twigs,
bundling it all for the trash.
Everything that is dead is removed
to make way for new planting and fresh growth.
Is it possible that
we who are children of God
May see ourselves
like those broken branches or crumpled leaves?
Well, it’s possible —-
if we let ourselves be separated from Christ.
Just as branches get separated from trees,
we can become separated from the Lord.
Jesus says that he is the true vine.
A person who does not live in him
is like a withered branch ready for the fire.
Those leaves and branches that
were once the glory of nature,
are now an eyesore.
They become separated from their source of life
and died.
When we become detached from Jesus Christ,
our source of life, we die spiritually.
So ——
how do people become detached from the Lord?
Seldom is it one dramatic moment
when people turn from Christ.
Usually it’s gradual
as people begin to give way on small things,
discarding what seem to be
insignificant religious practices that
then lead to the abandonment of more important ones.
Then comes a moment when
someone is coming to church,
saying the words and singing the songs with words that
no longer speak from their heart.
It’s like singing a foreign national anthem.
The words are alien
and they fail to motivate or invigorate.
They express a faith that
is no longer in our heart
and is no longer a part of us.
We have become cut off from the vine.
My brothers and sisters,
we need to stay in contact with the living Lord.
AND we do so through the community of the church.
In today’s first reading,
we see St. Paul
staying in contact with the Jerusalem Church,
the center of the apostolic faith in his time.
His conversion experience needed to be
tested, verified and transformed into a way of life that
would last beyond the drama of the moment.
He did this by becoming part of the Church.
The same is true of us.
We need to be
tested, verified and transformed into a way of life
that more closely connects us with the living Lord.
So the question is —-
How do we test, verify and transform our lives?
One way is
whether our spiritual experiences
draw us closer to the Church,
to the community of faith —- rather than isolating us,
setting us apart in a sort of
spiritual individualism.
Taking part in the life of the Church
verifies our personal spirituality
and keeps us balanced.
Another way we stay in contact with the living Lord
Is by nurturing our prayer life.
Now ——
we all need a personal prayer life.
We all can have a personal prayer life.
The celebration of the liturgy,
Sunday Mass,
does not exhaust the spiritual life of a Christian.
The liturgy — our time here today is our spiritual center but
it should radiate
into a daily routine of personal prayer.
A third way that we stay in contact
with the living Lord
is through the expression of our faith
in works of charity toward others.
This is how our faith influences our relationships,
our work and the causes in which we believe.
All three of these options allows us to remain
part of the living Vine – to stay connected
to the life giving love of Christ.
So, now the question becomes —
what about a person
who has limited or no contact with the Church,
who seldom prays
or whose claimed faith
has absolutely nothing to do
with how he or she lives life?
If you can relate to any of these points
have you disconnected
from the life giving love of Christ?
Well, if during this Easter season
you have been somehow moved to pray more often,
there is sill life within you.
If during this Easter season
your conscience has spoken to you about
changing your way of life,
there’s still life within you.
If during this Easter Season
you have had the desire to
set things right with the Church and others,
there’s still life within you.
If during this Easter Season
you want to come closer to God,
there’s still life within you.
If you want to begin again with the Lord,
then you are not yet a dead branch.
You are still connected,
however tenuously, to the vine.
Today’s Gospel is very much a Gospel of Hope.
This is a good time to learn from nature.
Out of winter comes the new life of spring.
Out of the winter of our soul,
by God’s grace,
new life can begin to flourish and bud.
If we stay connected to the vine,
our lives will bear much fruit,
much more than we could ever imagine.