20180502
ONE VINE, MANY BRANCHES
02 MAY, 2018, Wednesday, 5th Week of Easter
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 15:1-6 ©
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They were to go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the
apostles and elders
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Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless
you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’
This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument
with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church
should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.
All the
members of the church saw them off, and as they passed through Phoenicia and
Samaria they told how the pagans had been converted, and this news was received
with the greatest satisfaction by the brothers. When they arrived in Jerusalem
they were welcomed by the church and by the apostles and elders, and gave an
account of all that God had done with them.
But certain
members of the Pharisees’ party who had become believers objected, insisting
that the pagans should be circumcised and instructed to keep the Law of Moses.
The apostles and elders met to look into the matter.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 121(122):1-5 ©
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I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to
God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
‘Let us go to God’s house.’
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to
God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!
Jerusalem is built as a city
strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to
God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!
For Israel’s law it is,
there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement
of the house of David.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to
God’s house.’
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt5:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy those who are persecuted
in the cause of right,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 15:1-8 ©
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I am the vine, you are the branches
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘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.’
ONE VINE, MANY BRANCHES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 15:1-6; PS 122:1-5; JOHN 15:1-8 ]
Last year, we
commemorated the 500th year of the Reformation with the
Lutheran Church. The reformation started the division between the Catholic
Church and the reformed or Protestant churches. After Martin Luther,
there were further divisions among themselves and today, we have thousands of
ecclesiastical communities, which we loosely called “churches.” Is the
division among Christians a good thing for the spread of the Good News?
Only history and time can determine the answer to this question. Yet, if
the reformation did not happen, perhaps, Christianity may not have grown to
such a large extent. Indeed, today, there are 900 million
Protestants, 260 million Orthodox Catholics and 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
The fruits of the reformation can be seen throughout the world.
Consequently,
in this 21st Century, we can no longer be exclusivist in our
relationship with non-Catholic Christians and vice-versa. The starting point of
fostering unity among Christians should not be “which is the true Church of
Christ?” In the past, Catholics would label non-Catholic Christian
churches as false Church and Protestants labeled Catholics as idol
worshippers. Such a stand is not conducive for dialogue and unity.
This desire to prove ourselves as the “true Church of Christ” smacks of
insecurity, egotism, exclusivity and protectionism engineered by pride, power,
control and often, money!
We can fall
into the same mistake of the early Church when the Jewish Christians sought to
make all Gentile converts to Christianity subscribe to Judaism. In the first reading, we
read how some of the Pharisees who had converted to Christianity, insisted that
unless the Gentile Christians “circumcised in the tradition of Moses”, they
could not be saved. They insisted that the Gentile Christians must also
keep the Law of Moses. In other words, Gentile Christians must first
accept the customs and teachings of Judaism before they could become
Christians.
If history
were to let the Jewish Christians have their way, then Christianity would have
just developed into another deviant sect in Judaism. The attempt to impose
their Jewish traditions on non-Jews, “led to disagreement, and after Paul and
Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and
Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the
problem with the apostles and elders.” The early Church was faced with
the most critical crisis that would determine whether the gospel would be given
to all peoples or just the Jews. It was divine providence that saved the
Christian faith from such a narrow interpretation of salvation. If not
for the decision of the Council of the elders not to impose Jewish practices on
Gentile converts, Christianity would have remained a small sect within Judaism
and lost her worldwide appeal.
This is
perhaps also true with the reformation. If not for the schism, the
Catholic Church would have been so complacent and corrupt that she could have
destroyed herself. But the reformation forced the Church to look into her own
moral life and at the same time allowed the Protestants to grow in strength and
in diversity without the restrictions imposed by the authority of the Catholic
Church. So what was apparently a most unfortunate break in the unity of
the Church, could also be seen positively as the way the Lord pruned His
Church. “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.”
So for Christianity to grow, we all need to be pruned further so that we can
grow to become stronger and more faithful to the gospel.
Indeed, in
fostering unity and growth of the gospel, it would be more beneficial to ask
whether we belong to the true vine rather than whether we are the true Church. If we are in union
with the Vine then we are the true Church of Christ. It is significant
that the Catholic Church no longer claims that the Church of Christ is the
Catholic Church. Rather, today, we say that the true Church of Christ
subsists in the Catholic Church, which leaves open the fact that other
Christian communities also belong to the Church of Christ, depending on how
much they are in union with Him. “This Church constituted and organized
in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed
by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although
many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible
structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are
forces impelling toward catholic unity.” (Lumen Gentium, 8)
In the gospel
too, Jesus changed the understanding of the true vine. In the Old Testament,
Israel was the true vine of the Lord. But Jesus used the same symbol with
an expanded meaning. The true vine is no longer identified with Israel
but with Himself. He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinedresser.” Jesus therefore is the vine but He also includes us
all in Him as well because He says that we are His branches. “I am the
vine, you are the branches.” In other words, Christ is the vine and we
are members of His body. The Church therefore comprises not just of the
members alone but all who are in union with Christ who is the vine.
Hence, Jesus accordingly said, “As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.
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.”
So a better
and more concrete way to discern whether we belong to the true Church of Christ
is whether we are bearing fruits. It is not sufficient to belong to the true
institutional Church of Christ if we are not living a life of union with the
Lord. Being a Catholic alone cannot save us unless we share the life of
Christ. The Church’s sacraments and institutions are just a means to
salvation; not the end itself. More importantly than just belonging
to the true Church of Christ, we must ask whether we are in union with
Him. “Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away. As a
branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.”
To be a true
disciple of Christ, we must bear the fruits of love, joy and peace, generosity,
kindness, patience, self-control, faithfulness and gentleness. (cf Gal 5:22) Unless, we are living
a life of charity among ourselves, reaching out to those who are suffering and
neglected, caring for each other, we cannot call ourselves the disciples of
Christ. St John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love
is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not
love does not know God; for God is love.” (1 Jn 4:7f)
St Peter also advised us, “For this very reason make every effort to supplement
your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with
self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with
godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with
love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being
ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Pt 1:5-8)
Unity in love
must also be complemented by unity in truth. What we should underscore among
Christians, whether Catholics or Protestants, is our common faith in Christ as
the Son of God, our Saviour and Lord, and that salvation is found in Him
through the Church, as taught in the Nicene Creed. These are the basic
tenets of our faith that Catholics and Protestants hold together. The
other doctrines, which are secondary and not critical to faith in Christ and
therefore our salvation, should be discussed through ongoing dialogue in
humility and in sincerity in seeking the truth. The Church always recognizes
that there is a hierarchy of truths and therefore it is more critical that we
agree on the fundamental ones and leave the secondary truths aside for future
dialogue. Often divisions happen because we harp on secondary
issues, which are not essential for faith and salvation in Christ. All of
us must continue to be pruned as Jesus said, by the Word of God.
Most of all, we must rely on the power of prayer, for Jesus said, “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.” In the final analysis, there is only one truth
and that truth is love.
Thus, in
fostering Christian unity, we should abandon the idea of having all Protestants
return to the Catholic Church. This would never happen and the clock cannot be turned
back. Rather, we should recognize the diversity of the one Church of
Christ and seek to appreciate the different Christian traditions that have
evolved, learning from each other what is best and could be appropriated to
one’s tradition so that faith in Jesus could be stronger and more
fruitful. The Catholic Church in some ways have embraced this principle
when she accepted the different rites within the Roman Catholic Communion, such
as the Eastern Rites Churches, the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankar
rites. Instead of envying each other and vying for members from each
other’s ecclesial tradition, we should be more concerned in directing and
preaching the gospel to those who have not yet known Him. Those who
belong to the different Christian traditions are most welcome to learn from
each and even follow whichever Christian tradition that the Lord is calling
them to. Seeking converts from other Christian traditions and
denominations should not be the priority because their members have in some
ways received the gospel already. Instead, we should bring Christ to all
those who have not yet come to know His love and the gospel.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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