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. (John 15:5)
On the cup of my chalice is engraved a vine and branches along with clusters of grapes. You can see a sketch of it included with this article. Jesus said in our Sunday Gospel taken from chapter 15 of John that He is the vine and we are the branches. We are to “remain” in him. A branch must remain connected to the vine. If it does not, the branch no longer has sustenance, and cut off from the vine it withers and dies. We must remain connected to Jesus. If we disconnect from Jesus, we too wither and die. The sustenance Jesus gives is here at Mass. Jesus feeds us with His very self, His Body and Blood.
If we are connected with Jesus, the Vine, then we also are connected to one another! This image powerfully shows us so many truths of our faith. It shows us what it means to be Church, the mystical Body of Christ. There is no “just me and Jesus” and the rest doesn’t matter. Every branch (each one of us) connects to the vine and affect each other. If one branch gets some herbicide sprayed on it, you sure bet the whole plant will suffer. If one branch gets to soak in the warm sun, you sure bet the whole plant will benefit. What we do for good or ill, like it or not, affects the whole body and each other. Therefore, we must gather each Sunday as the Body of Christ to receive the Body of Christ, for that is what we are. All the branches (each of us) are connected, so we gather together at Mass, and we are nourished together from the True Vine, Jesus, who gives us life.
What can a branch do without the vine? Nothing but wither. But connected, we can produce “much fruit”. This fruit is a holy life. This fruit is love. Our parish mission statement (short version) is, “Abide in Christ. Love God & Neighbor. Make Disciples.” The first part, “Abide in Christ” is from this passage of John, just a different translation using “abide” instead of “remain”. For our parish to bear fruit, to be a place of holiness, good works, love, etc. we must first abide in Christ. That is, we must be connected to Christ. Again, we do this primarily through Mass and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
In this time of Spring and everything greening up and growing, take a moment to look at a vine (or any green plant) and ponder your connection to Christ. How can I grow in my connection? How am I affected the whole plant? How am I bearing fruit?
Peace,
Fr. Greg
P. S. I’m happy to announce POP is welcoming a new member to our staff team, Suzanne Goff, to be our Liturgy Coordinator. Suzanne is a parishioner of Prince of Peace, married mother of eight, and previously worked here as an RCIA coordinator. She and her family have been involved as volunteers in about every aspect of our liturgies. Her role will be to organize all the things necessary to make our liturgies (Masses and such) happen. She starts immediately. Please welcome her! I am extremely grateful to April Bailey who filled this role temporarily since Melissa Jakmouj left. April did a wonderful job and worked extra hard and many hours to fill the gap. We await a new music director, Harrison Sheckler, who is hired to fill the music role and will start in June. Thank you to all of you—together we help make POP such a great parish!