5th Sunday of Easter: April 27/28, 2024

I checked in with Douglas  – and like last weekend – he has other commitments – so you’re stuck with me.
    You probably know that the Gospel of John is a little different than the other three Gospels.  Those three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke - we call the synoptic Gospels - synoptic being the Greek word for “one eye” because they all present a similar view or story about Jesus.
    John’s Gospel is in part structured around 7
“I AM”  statements of Jesus - most of which we are familiar with:
    I am the Light of the World
I am the Gate for the Sheep
I am the Resurrection and the Life.
I am the Way the Truth and the Life.
This one we heard last week:  I am the Good Shepherd.
One we hear for three weeks in August:  I am the Bread of Life.
And one we hear today:  I am the Vine - you are the branches.
All of these are meant to bring Jesus’ listeners to a better understanding of who he is - by using examples they would understand and relate to. . . So let us try to get  a better understanding of who Jesus is during our time together. . .


So once there was a man from a remote village who had the opportunity to visit a large modern city for the first time.
He had never been out of the hills before, and so had no experience with many modern conveniences - like running water or fancy kitchen appliances  – and had seen few automobiles in his life.
He of course wanted to bring something home with him to show off to his neighbors.  Since he was most amazed at the lights he saw everywhere – he decided that’s what he wanted to take home.
So he bought a sack full of light bulbs and sockets and switches.

And back in the hills, he hung the light bulbs in front of his house and on the trees and shrubs.
Everyone watched him with great curiosity and kept asking him what he was doing.  He just smiled and said, “just wait until dark - then you will see.”
Darkness came and he turned on the switches — but nothing happened.
Because no one told him about electricity.  And he did not know that light bulbs were useless unless they were connected to a source of power!
Connection:  it’s another gift Christ gives us during Easter:  the ability to connect with him - and connect with one another in community.
I think there are a lot of people today who want to call themselves Christian – and have no idea that means they have to stay connected to Jesus - as the source of spiritual power in their lives.
I am the vine you are the branches – AND APART FROM ME:  YOU CAN DO NOTHING!
This disconnection happens, I think, for several reasons. . .
1st- staying connected to Jesus takes time and effort – and people are not willing to make this commitment.
2nd - staying connected to Jesus means that they have to DISCONNECT from other things:  

all the bells and whistles our culture and society throws at us telling us money, or power, or influence, or even the right cologne or shoes will bring us happiness or contentment.
Little wonder that people have all kinds of time to pursue other things – but have NO time to devote to staying connected to Jesus.
Allow me to state the obvious:  If we want to truly call ourselves a Christian and to be a Christian:  we have to stay connected to Jesus as the source of our spiritual power.
Which is saying our values, our priorities, our expenditure of our time, talent, and treasure:  need to flow from our commitment to stay connected to Christ. . .
SO HOW DO WE STAY CONNECTED TO CHRIST?
Through prayer:  the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God.  In prayer we commit ourselves to listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd so we can follow after him.
We stay connected to Christ through our reading of Scripture – the great Biblical scholar St. Jerome (who translated the scriptures from Greek into Latin) once said:
Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of God. . .
We stay connected to Christ by walking with like-minded people as we do today.  We must know that a truly Catholic journey with Christ is not just a Jesus and me experience – 
but a Jesus and WE experience.  We draw comfort, and strength, are challenged and consoled in the midst of community.
We stay connected to Christ through the use of sacramentals in our lives:  the rosary, the use of holy water, the wearing of medals or a scapular, the use of icons or other sacred images:  all to remind us of the ever-present love of God.
We stay connected to Christ by our works of charity - ever mindful of the fact that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for Christ.

We stay connected to Christ through the celebration of the Eucharist and the other Sacraments.  
Again, recognizing that as individuals we are part of something much greater than ourselves – we are members of the Body of Christ.
And we stay connected to Christ by keeping God’s commandments:  by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God.  As St. John told us in the 2nd reading:  those who keep God’s commandments remain in God, and God in them.
All of these things take TIME AND EFFORT - which is why many people are Chrsitian in name only - for they want to put their time and effort into other “more useful” things.
But, if we want to receive the gift of eternal life and enjoy the grace that frees us from our sins - two important gifts which Christ gives us not only during this Easter season but throughout our lives — then there are no “more useful things” to do.

Jesus has called us to be members of his flock – to be good sheep – to have both courage and hope in our following of him.

And to do this – we have to stay connected to Jesus – I am the vine, you are the branches– apart from me:  you can do nothing.

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