20210507 BEARING FRUIT THAT WILL LAST
07 May, 2021, Friday, 5th Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 15:22-31 © |
It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by us not to burden you beyond these essentials
The apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:
‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’
The party left and went down to Antioch, where they summoned the whole community and delivered the letter. The community read it and were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 56(57):8-12 © |
I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples.
or
Alleluia!
My heart is ready, O God,
my heart is ready.
I will sing, I will sing your praise.
Awake, my soul,
awake, lyre and harp,
I will awake the dawn.
I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples.
or
Alleluia!
I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples,
among the nations I will praise you
for your love reaches to the heavens
and your truth to the skies.
O God, arise above the heavens;
may your glory shine on earth!
I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 15:12-17 © |
What I command you is to love one another
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘This is my commandment:
love one another,
as I have loved you.
A man can have no greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.
I shall not call you servants any more,
because a servant does not know
his master’s business;
I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me:
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
and then the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
What I command you is to love one another.’
BEARING FRUIT THAT WILL LAST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 15:22-31; PS 57:8-12; JOHN 15:12-17 ]
“You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last.” As disciples of Christ, chosen by Him, we are commissioned to go out and bear lasting fruits for the Lord. It is not enough to bear fruits. Very often many who are engaged in the ministry cannot sustain their programs or their mission; they start well with great enthusiasm, but such excitement and euphoria do not last. The indication that we are truly working for the Lord is when we bear not just fruits but fruits that will last. In other words, those whom we reach out to should grow in discipleship, in maturity and in selfless service.
How can we ensure that the fruits we bear will last? Earlier on Jesus spoke of the need to be in union with Him. This is the fundamental foundation of our mission. “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:4f) But it is not enough to be in union with Jesus, we must also be in union with the rest of the branches of the vine. This is why the gospel begins and ends with the command of Jesus that His disciples must love one another. “This is my commandment: love one another.”
However, the Lord does not simply command us to love one another. Because left to ourselves, we all have different definitions of love. Today, the word “love” is used in many different ways. Everyone claims to love, but oftentimes, our love is driven by love of self, more so than a genuine love for the other. In other words, our love is not always unconditional, free and selfless. We love with the desire to possess and control, so much so that at the end of the day, what we gain from the relationship becomes more important than making those we love feel loved and accepted for who they are. Human love unfortunately is very possessive. Because it is possessive, it tends to be exclusive. This is why the Lord added to the command to love one another, “as I have loved you.”
How then does Jesus love us? He loves us to the extent of laying down His life for us. He said, “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus showed us that true love is when we give our life not just for our friends but even for our enemies. St Paul wrote, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-8) Jesus made it clear to His disciples that He “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mt 20:28) Love calls for sacrifice and self-denial for the good of those we love.
Secondly, the Lord regards us as His friends. Jesus said, “You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.” As friends, the Lord reveals to us all the secrets to life. Friends do not hide any secrets from each other because of mutual trust and mutual revelation. There is disclosure of each other’s feelings and thoughts. Friends might not always agree with each other but they have the same heart, the same love for each other. It is this mutuality of heart that keeps the friendship going even when there is disagreement in what must be done and how it should be carried out. In genuine friendship, there is no barrier.
Thirdly, the Lord wants us to be fruitful. True friends seek the good and promotion of their friends’ interests. Hence, the Lord said, “You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. What I command you is to love one another.” Jesus desires that we grow and bear fruits in life. A true friend does not seek to dominate us or prevent us from growing in love, in our career, in our other relationships with others, etc. Indeed, the joy of a true friend is to see that our friends succeed and even better us in life. This was how John the Baptist saw his friendship with our Lord. He said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason, my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3:29f) A true friend helps us to attain our potentials in life. That is why a true friend is always positive, affirming when we do well, and forgiving and encouraging when we fail.
These were the same principles of love that the early Christians sought to live out in their lives when they met with challenges in their communion with each other. Whilst all the disciples loved Jesus and had the common desire to bear fruits for the Lord’s vineyard by bringing more disciples to the Faith, yet between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians there were tensions. The Jewish Christians, still steeped in their Jewish tradition and customs, found it difficult to sustain fellowship with the Gentile Christians, especially at meals because their practices were offensive to their traditions, as in the case of consumption of food sacrificed to idols; consumption of meat from animals killed by strangling and without first draining the blood. Of course, there were other practices as well, of which the most important was the question of circumcision. So when some Jewish Christians in their desire to keep the communities together insisted that the Jewish traditions be observed by the Gentile Christians, there was strong reaction.
What is edifying was that they did not fight among themselves and caused a schism or division. Instead, in charity and in unity, they asked that the issues be referred to the apostles and elders, the mother church in Jerusalem for mediation. They were willing to listen to each other simply because all of them had the same love for Christ, the same heart for each other, even when they were not of the same mind. It was their love for each other that prevented the communities from going their separate ways.
Significant too, was the affectional and fraternal tone of the leaders in Jerusalem when addressing them. After a long discussion, they sent out a letter addressing them as brothers. “The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.” Indeed, it showed the humility and servant leadership of the apostles in Jerusalem. They did not act in an authoritarian manner but as brothers. Yet, they did not shy from the issues. They reiterated the fact without accusing them of acting wrongly, but rather without their authority. “We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us.” What is even more instructive is that they did not just send a letter, but they sent their personal representative to explain the details, the reasons and the background; a letter would not have achieved the same effect. They wrote, “We are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter.”
Finally, their love for each other is seen in the way they were willing to compromise and accommodate each other’s sensitivities. On one hand, they did not wish to impose the entire Jewish ceremonial laws and rituals on the Gentile Christians. On the other hand, to protect fellowship especially at meals, certain considerations had to be given to the Jewish Christians. Hence, the compromise was this, “It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.” True love requires sacrifice even if it does not require us to die for each other. As St Paul wrote, “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Cor 13:4-7)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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