On this fifth Sunday of Easter we have the parable of the vine and the branches. The Lord Jesus used the image of the relationship of the vine and the branches to show our relationship with Him. In the same way as the branches could not sustain itself if not connected to the vine, we could not also live if we are disconnected from the Lord. In the same way that the branches could not bear fruit apart from the vine, we also could not bear fruit apart from the Lord. It was God who gave us life. It is God who sustains it. It will be God who would bring and receive it in its fullness.
So many times in today's Gospel, the word "remain" was mentioned. It reveals the importance of remaining in the favor of the Lord. Anyone, no matter how rich, famous, or powerful is nothing without the Lord. Anyone, no matter how deprived in this world, would be complete if he has the Lord. The Lord is our enough. The world is never enough.
In another teaching, the Lord said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. In the last Gospels about the Good Shepherd, this was made clear. There are other kinds of shepherds whose caring and pasturing are wanting. In the same way, there are other kinds of vines which sustenance does not bring fruits. Only Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the "true" vine. He is the one who can see us through this life which His Father had created.
Genesis taught us that we were created in the image and likeness of God. It just follows that our fulfillment rests on living that image. No, it does not mean that we are God or we should become God. It means that God had shared Himself in a limited way to us and we have the responsibility to reflect them our lives. Kailangang magmana tayo sa Diyos! Because God was our creator, we are expected to exhibit His values, ways, most important, His Will. If dogs created us, then we can live like dogs. If crabs created us, then we have reasons to act like crabs. If we came from snakes, we should not wonder if we live like them. But as the Psalmist sang, "You have made me little less than a God and have lavished my heart with Your love. With dignity and honor you clothe me. Given me rule over all!" (Psalm 131). If we act other than our being, then we have degraded ourselves and we are not worthy of the dignity that God had given us.
Therefore, we must stay connected to God. Let us live in His milieu. Let our sustenance be His Word and His Deeds. And then, we will not only bear fruit, but much much more of them. Those fruits are what would form and develop us as children of God worthy of the Kingdom made available to us by the Lords death and resurrection. Those fruits will make our life complete. Those fruits will bring our life to its intended fruition.
(Let me share to you this story which is very relevant to the reflection above. There is a sad American Indian story about a young man who found an eagle's egg and put it into the nest of a prairie chicken. The eagle hatched with the brood of prairie chickens and grew up with them. All its life, the misplaced eagle thought it was a prairie chicken and did only what the prairie chickens did. It scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat And it flew no more than a few feet off the ground with a thrashing of wings like other prairie chickens. Years passed and the unfortunate eagle grew very old. One day, it saw a significant bird high above cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared gracefully on its strong golden wings. "What a beautiful bird!" said the unfortunate eagle to its neighbor. "That's an eagle, the chief of the birds," the neighbor replied. "But don't give it a second thought. You could never be like him." So the poor eagle never gave it a second thought and it died thinking it was a prairie chicken.)
Not a few people had lived their lives different from how it should be lived because they had been placed in an environment or they were "branched" to the wrong vine. The difference we have from the eagle above is that we are human beings. God had given us the capacity to make decisions and changes if we want. Hopefully, once we realize that we are in the wrong environment or are being influenced by the wrong vine, we will have the strength and the will to find the true one. If we are open and sensitive, we will find the Lord who is just there in our hearts! Further, hopefully, it will not be too late or we would not die with it just like the poor eagle.
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