From the Deacon’s Desk 05/02/2021

Dear Friends:

Our gospel reading today is from the Gospel of John 15:1-8. Notice that Jesus uses another agricultural metaphor to get his point across. The parable of the vine and branches has its roots way back in Jewish history. We find reference to this in Jeremiah 2:21 and Isaiah 5:1-7. Basically, this refers to an old vine not producing fruit while a new vine does. The story today has Jesus telling us without trepidation that he is the vine and we are the branches. If we remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit; if we do not remain with Jesus, we will be thrown away. Jesus also tells us at the end of this gospel “by this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

If we are excited about our faith and remain close to Jesus, that faith will pour out of us to the world around us. It will not be necessary for us to get a soapbox and preach on Saturday afternoon in front of a supermarket. If we live our faith and Jesus is invited to live within us, then the life we live will be a message to the people around us that we are special people commissioned to do the work God wants us to do. The disciples Jesus knew when he was on this earth were commissioned by Jesus right after his resurrection. We are commissioned too! We are commissioned by our Baptism. Every one of us has the ability to lead good and decent lives. We were given that grace when we were baptized. We need only to live as disciples of Jesus to make it become a reality in our lives! We have the ability right now at this moment. Why not let this be the day that you let it shine to the world.

Peace and All Good!

Deacon Jim