April 28, 2024 - Fifth Sunday of Easter
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
The “calendar spring” started in March, but the change to warmer weather is perceived now with the visible signs of spring flowers, trees blooming, and grass starting to take off. We could say it is all fruit of the Resurrection of Jesus, that brings new life to every aspect of our lives. An Easter lily is one of the symbols of Resurrection, dressed in a “white cloth,“ that was left by Christ in the tomb, creating a harmony with it. It is a beautiful feeling to perceive the spring as a fruit of the Resurrection, as a consequence of it. Without the Resurrection, the spring was destined to die permanently one day, but with the Resurrection it is destined to be eternal like Christ. If there is beauty in newness of life, Christ makes it eternal, unending. By faith in Christ, we acquire rights to that eternal spring. Like that grain of wheat from the parable, that sown to the ground is lost to itself, but it comes back to life in multiple seeds with great fruitfulness and infinite perspective of becoming countless.
In the parable of this Sunday, Jesus compares our dependence on the Resurrection, on Jesus, to the fruitfulness and growth of the vine, that is dependent on being connected to the stem of the vine prepared to power all necessary growth and fruitfulness of this vine. The vine needs to be pruned in order to produce the good fruits, and the new branch by itself cannot produce the fruits without total dependence on the old stem of the vine.
Without Christ, there is no Resurrection. Without Christ, there is no eternal life. Without Christ, life ends in the tomb. Lord, give us that gift of eternal life, give us the blessings of friendship with You. Friendship that will carry us to eternal life with you.
Last Sunday we accepted Jesus as our Good Shepherd to guide us to the eternal pastures. This Sunday we have 29 children and youth to receive their Baptism in preparation later for their First Communion, when they will be invited to nourish themselves for eternal life, to receive the abundance of blessings along the path of life and fullness of happiness from Jesus. The Baptism makes us to become the branches inserted into the stem of the vine that is Jesus himself. It makes us one with Christ in life, in death and in resurrection. It makes us one with the Mystical Body of Christ that is the Church. The Baptism makes us Catholic; it makes us children of God. It makes us the heirs to the inheritance that Jesus leaves for those who believe in him. There is no happiness without Christ, with Him there is the abundance of happiness and fullness of joy.
Let us not lose the appreciation of the love and sacrifice that Jesus shared with us, let us treasure it and grow in intimate friendship with Christ. Let us be driven to become faithful friends of Jesus, worthy of the gifts of his love.
God bless everyone always!!!
Fr. Stan
