Fifth Sunday of Easter

First Reading

Acts 9,26-31

When he 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 him and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached fearlessly 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 got to know of this, 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 and living in the fear of the Lord; encouraged by the Holy Spirit, they continued to grow.

Psalmody

Psalm 21

Antiphon

Jesus, man of pain, you truly know suffering.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
You are far from my plea
and the cry of my distress

O my God, I call by day and you give no reply;
I call by night and I find no peace.

Yet you, O God, are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you set them free.

When they cried to you, they escaped.
In you they trusted and never in vain.

But I am a worm and no man,
the butt of men, laughing-stock of the people.

All who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.

'He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let them release him if this is his friend'.

Yes, it was you who took me from the womb,
entrusted me to my mother's breast,

To you I was committed from my birth,
from my mother's womb you have been my God.

Do not leave me alone in my distress;
come close,
there is none else to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me,
fierce bulls of Bashan close me in.

Against me they open wide their jaws,
like lions, rending and roaring.

Like water I am poured out,
disjointed are all my bones.

My heart has become like wax,
it is melted within my breast.

Parched as burnt clay is my throat,
my tongue cleaves to my jaws
and lay me in the dust of death.

Many dogs surrounded me,
a band of the wicked beset me.

They tear holes in my hands and my feet
I can count every one of my bones.

These people stare at me and gloat;
they divide my clothing among them.
They cast lots for my robe.

O Lord, do not leave me alone,
my strength, make haste to help me!

Rescue my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of these dogs.

Save my life from the jaws of these lions,
my poor soul from the horns of these oxen.

I will tell of your name to my brethren
and praise you where they are assembled.

'You who fear the Lord give him praise;
all sons of Jacob, give him glory.
Revere him, Israel's sons.

For he has never despised
nor scorned the poverty of the poor.

From him he has not hidden his face,
but he heard the poor man when he cried'.

You are my praise in the great assembly.
My vows I will pay before those who fear him.

The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.
May their hearts live for ever and ever!

All the earth shall remember
and return to the Lord,

all families of the nations
worship before him

For the kingdom is the Lord's;
he is ruler of the nations.

They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.

And my soul shall live for him,
my children serve him.

They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness.

to peoples yet unborn '
These things the Lord has done'.

Second Reading

1 John 3,18-24

Children, our love must be not just words or mere talk, but something active and genuine. This will be the proof that we belong to the truth, and it will convince us in his presence, even if our own feelings condemn us, that God is greater than our feelings and knows all things. My dear friends, if our own feelings do not condemn us, we can be fearless before God, and whatever we ask we shall receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what is acceptable to him. His commandment is this, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we should love one another as he commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments remains in God, and God in him. And this is the proof that he remains in us: the Spirit that he has given us.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 15,1-8

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 clean already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, unless it remains 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 thrown away like a branch -- and withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire and are burnt. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get it. It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit and be my disciples.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

With the image of the vine and the branches, Jesus shows the prophecy of the disciples' unity with him. Jesus gave this image to the disciples at the last supper, as a testament. It was often used by the prophets to describe the bond of love between God and his people. That evening Jesus interprets it in a new way: the vine is no longer the people of Israel, but he himself: "I am the true vine." And immediately he adds: "and you are the branches." The disciples are bound to the Master like the branches to the vine. It is from the trunk that the sap comes to the branches, and they can bear fruit.
The sap that keeps the whole vine alive is Jesus' love, not our own. It is the communion between the Father and the Son in which we are called to participate by grace, certainly not by merit. In fact, we are only asked to welcome this love, or rather, as the Gospel page suggests, to dwell in it. Six times, in eight lines, Jesus repeats: "abide in me," "whoever abides in me bears much fruit," "whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like the branch and withers" and is like a scrap that is thrown into the fire. That evening the disciples did not understand; indeed, perhaps they wondered: what does it mean to remain with him since it is he who is about to leave. Jesus used this image so that it would remain engraved in their minds. Those who stay to hear the Gospel stay with Jesus and Jesus with them. In the Eastern tradition there is a beautiful icon that represents this. In the centre is painted the trunk of the vine on which Jesus is sitting with the Scripture open. From the trunk depart twelve branches on each of which sits an apostle, with the open Scripture in his hands. It is the icon of the new community that originates from Jesus, the true vine. That open book in Jesus' hands is the same book that each apostle has: it is the true sap that allows one not to love with words nor with the tongue, but with deeds and in truth. And it is also the book that is in all our communities everywhere in the world. It is our vine, the only vine, with the multiplicity of branches. It is the Word of God that holds us together.