5th Sunday of Easter

I am not a green thumb so pruning is an art I do not fully understand. To the ignorant, the notion of pruning sounds so strange. Cutting away branches will make a plant bigger? Years ago at my former parish an energetic gardener pruned the rhododendrons on the parish grounds. I wasn’t the only one who thought she had scalped them, yet she assured me that good pruning would make them more vibrant. Her efforts indeed paid off. When you cut off its longer branches, shrubs will grow even thicker. Experienced gardeners learn that pruning makes already fruitful branches even more fruitful.

But Jesus isn’t sharing this message to provide a lesson in horticulture 101. Rather he is giving us a lesson to make our faith more fruitful. Just as a branch cannot survive on its own apart from the vine, we cannot survive apart from Jesus. “Remain in me, as I remain in you.” We need him for our spiritual life and he needs us to proclaim the good news.

Pruning needs to be done in our lives if we want to have a vibrant prayerful relationship with Jesus. Otherwise, we could find ourselves saying prayers without really praying. I heard of one woman who prayed the rosary daily while watching TV. She said her prayers, all right, but was she really praying? I suspect few of us spend as much time in prayer as we need to for the sake of growing closer to Christ.

If we want our faith to remain or become vibrant, we cannot ignore what Jesus is saying here. Apart from him, we cannot thrive. A relevant question for us to ponder is, “What is hindering me from really knowing Jesus Christ?”

Examples of those branches that need to be pruned include the capital sins: avarice, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and anger. They prevent us from loving others in deed and truth as John in his letter urges us to. The same could be said of self-centered addictions such as drug or alcohol abuse, surfing the internet and pornography, they distance us from others and from God. Other branches we may need to prune include prejudices that hinder our love for others.

If our spirituality is drooping with little enthusiasm, then we need to cut back on those things that are keeping us apart from Christ. Blow the dust off your bible and spend some time deepening your relationship with the Lord. It takes more than coming to or watching the Sunday Mass to remain on the vine and really know Christ and his ways. Jesus tells us that we are already pruned “because of the word that I spoke to you.” Of course, that depends on if we are listening to him.

To remain on the vine, disciples must live their lives in Christ. They must trust the Lord and his commandments in order to observe them in their daily lives. Sometimes we rebel at a certain commandment or teaching of our Church because we don’t understand them and we protest, “Tell me why I should follow it before I am willing to do so.” The reality is we won’t understand the why behind a commandment or teaching until we do the “do.” For example, St. Paul often urges us, “Pray without ceasing,” and yet until we do, we won’t understand why this commandment is worth following.  

Over the years, I have seen people protest when I address a certain social justice issue, based on church teachings or the commandment to love. I have poked their conscience but have they used the occasion to better understand why the Lord is calling us to observe a certain commandment or teaching that they have issue with? Instead of rebelling, we need to learn to trust the Lord, to trust his word, to have faith. Not a blind faith, but an inquisitive faith that seeks to better understand what he is asking of us. By following his way, we can understand the merit of his commandments. Other wise, we may never understand and thus bear fruit.

If we remain in Christ and observe his commandments, he will give us his life in return and we will bear much fruit, fruit that makes our world a better place, fruit that glorifies God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Last weekend we began our ACA campaign. The Catholic community of Western Washington brings the Word of God to life by supporting the 63 programs and services that touch the lives of many. Much of the funding for these ministries comes from the ACA. Your participation is an act of love that is demonstrated many times over.

Your pledge provides for quality education for children who will become tomorrow’s leaders. When you make a pledge, you are saying “thank you” to our retired nuns and priests who have served us in the past. Your pledge is also an investment in today’s seminarians who will serve our church for years to come.

Perhaps you have recently received a letter from the Archbishop. I know we are in tough times economically, but your generosity last year enabled us once again to surpass our goal. 172 pledges raised $56 K. Our goal this year is $46,450. We as Catholics are generous people. Our support of the ACA brings God’s love and compassion to those in need of God’s love in many ways. Thank you for making this a reality. In addition to meeting our goal, we hope to raise another $10K to install a bigger generator and to rewire the church so that we can use LED lights and be more energy efficient. Our rebate last year helped pay unexpected bills.

It is truly amazing what we can accomplish when we share our gifts. I join Archbishop Etienne in thanking you for your past support and urging you to join me in making another pledge this year. Next Sunday is commitment Sunday, so please return your pledge or mail your pledge. For your data to be safe, use the security envelopes that are provided. The last page of the bulletin may answer questions that you have about the ACA.