May 5, 2010
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5
Piety
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Study
Do NOT let me go out into the yard with the hedge clippers or the pruning shears unsupervised. The shrubs recoil when they see me coming because there is an art to pruning rather than hacking away. I, however, am a hacker.
Jesus knows perfectly well how to prune to bear much fruit. Exhibit A is St. Peter. At the Last Supper, Jesus confronted Peter with his human nature. “You will deny me three times before the cock crows.” No way, says St. Pete. Yes way, says Jesus.
That night, in the courtyard, Peter confronts the pruning shears of the Lord. Peter has such a hard time living with the realization of his denial that he wants to retreat back into his old life, his comfort zone, and become just a regular fisherman again. When he does so, the rest of the disciples follow their leader. However, the Master Gardener is not done with Peter.
During that fateful fishing trip, Jesus shows Peter and the rest of the team that they can indeed become fishers of more than fish. As the trip bears fruit, Peter begins his redemption. The New Peter will bear more fruit now that he has been pruned.
In the courtyard, Peter did not let Jesus remain in himself. On those distant shores, Peter opens up and welcomes Jesus back into his life. That is when Peter accepts his pruning and realizes that Jesus must remain in him and he must remain in Jesus.
Action
We live in such a temporary culture. Change is the only thing that seems to be permanent. I started my education in one elementary school and finished in another. Then, I started in one junior high school but finished that three-year stint in a different school. When I started high school, I switched schools twice and left high school a year early for college. The program at one college could not even keep me nailed down for the complete four years.
Jobs are the same way. Since getting out of graduate school, it is hard to recall any job until my current position where I stayed for more than four years.
Remaining anywhere is hard. We change lanes to move faster on the Beltway. We change shirts and ties to look nicer at work. We change shampoo to get cleaner hair. Permanence is hard to attain in a throw-away, planned obsolescent society. We change jobs. We sell our homes. We trade in our cars. Nothing is permanent.
Permanence is the lesson Jesus is trying to get across in this encounter around the table at the Last Supper. Rather than working on altering everything in our lives, he wants us to anchor ourselves to the permanence of the altar. If we remain with Him, Jesus promises to remain with us. This permanent friendship does not mean we will not experience or be forced to experience change in our lives. However, when we experience change, we know that we will have a constant companion for support.
How has the Lord pruned you in your lifetime? Have you spent time wandering away from the Church? Have you spent time more concerned about your own creature comforts than about the needs of your poor sisters and brothers? When you have experienced change, what is the rock that you build your life upon?
