Under His Careful Pruning

5Th Sunday Of Easter
10 May 2009

The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

First reading Acts 9:26-31
When Saul got to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they could not believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took charge of him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord had appeared to Saul and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Saul now started to go round with them in Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly in the name of the Lord. But after he had spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill him. When the brothers knew, they took him to Caesarea, and sent him off from there to Tarsus.

The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.


Psalm or canticle: Psalm 21:26-28,30-32


Second reading 1 John 3:18-24
My children,
our love is not to be just words or mere talk,
but something real and active;
only by this can we be certain
that we are children of the truth
and be able to quieten our conscience in his presence,
whatever accusations it may raise against us,
because God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything.

My dear people,
if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience,
we need not be afraid in God’s presence,
and whatever we ask him,
we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in him.
We know that he lives in us
by the Spirit that he has given us.


Gospel John 15:1-8
Jesus said:
‘I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit
he prunes to make it bear even more.
You are pruned already,
by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers;
these branches are collected and thrown on the fire,
and they are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask what you will
and you shall get it.
It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit,
and then you will be my disciples.’


Reflection
by Grace Madrinan

Today’s Gospel reminded me of a lay preacher who told of his experience he had while conducting a talk in one company. He said he was almost done with his talk when someone from the audience, asked in a serious tone, “What if you’re angry with God? What do you do?” For a moment, he could not find the answer and was also careful to make his point. He said to him, “Go to God and tell him you’re angry. Pour out your emotions, if you want. But NEVER turn away from God.”

I believe that’s the main point of our Gospel today – to remain in the vine, no matter what. When you are battered and worn out - run to Him! When you are elated by blessings, praise Him! When you stumbled into sin, return to Him! People may say, this is easier said than done. And I don’t disagree.

There are times when I sing like crazy for praises of Him, when blessings pour out. But the minute a hint of problem strikes, I fold. My human tendency is really to run away and hide. I used to avoid going to the church for a while…I even stopped reading the Bible. It felt like I am under pretense if I pushed myself to go, when deep inside, I am distracted and run down by emotions. When you’re in pain, it is so easy to lose sight of the ‘right thing to do’. It is only when I step out of myself and come to Him in full humility that I realized that, I am still God’s child and He loves me unconditionally. And like any other branch, I need to cling to the vine amidst the strong winds.

The truth remains. Whether it rains with problems or shines with blessings, we must remain in God’s love and follow His will. Being in the vine means we will experience pruning from time to time. We must take every day challenges as a way of God’s molding us into better disciples of faith. There is no reason to fret, for we are in Jesus, our vine, and in the care of the vine grower, our Father.





Father, we ask for forgiveness if, because of our limited understanding, we ran away from Your presence. Grant that we remain in You, under Your careful pruning. Amen.