Fifth Sunday of Easter
How often have we heard this scenario: We live in a time of confusion. Looking to our bishops and religious superiors we find no support. “Who am I to judge?” seems to permeate the thinking of all.
Yet doesn’t such insecurity and abandonment help us appreciate more the attitude of the apostles described in the 1st reading? “When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him.” He did not seem to be a true branch of the vine. On the contrary! So, could this mean God had abandoned his Church, was playing false to his promises? Time would tell. Meanwhile, this was a time God would use to make the followers of Christ grow in faith.
Jesus tells us in the Gospel that he is the vine, we the branches. He repeats this over and over again. I will bear fruit if I “remain” in him. He desires to “remain” in me. So to be a faithful Catholic means to “remain”, to live each day more closely in him. Let him take care of the future. He calls me now to remain in him, dwell in him. I know, no matter what the difficulty, he remains in me.