5th Sunday of Easter

Luckily, lovingly, God is the vine grower. He tends to us branches. He sees the branches that are withering from thirst and he gives them a boost with water. He sees the branches that are burning from heat and gives them the mercy of shade. He also sees the branches that are bearing fruit. He waits until the fruit is ripe and heavy before he picks it. God also prunes some branches. He cuts them down so they will bear fruit in the future.

Have you ever been pruned? Have you ever felt that God was cutting you down or holding you back? It is hard to come to terms with pruning sometimes. Why would God prevent you from doing something that you wanted to do? Why would He give that job to someone else? Why would He let your boyfriend or girlfriend break up with you? God is the vine grower, and he knows the end result. He knows the fruit you will bear. If you took that first job, then you wouldn't have applied to the position where you were able to change people's lives by your work. If you had stayed with that boyfriend or girlfriend, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet your real true love, the spouse that God had planned for you before you were born. He knows what He is doing.

He sent Jesus Christ to this earth to guide us and give us hope. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We must root ourselves in the vine that God provided. Jesus says, "without me you can do nothing." If we live apart from Christ, then we are like the branch that has broken off of the vine and fallen to the ground. Where are our roots? Where will we get water and nutrients with nothing holding us in the soil? Even if God tried to water us, we couldn't receive it without the vine. We are dead without the vine. We are dead without Jesus Christ.

Today's second reading gives us hope for staying on the vine when it says, "Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them," In order to stay on the vine, we must keep his commandments. The greatest commandment (Matthew 22) is to "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'," Love is the key to staying on the vine. The second reading tells us how to love too. Saying, "I love you" is simply not enough. We must act out our love through service to God and to one another.

Palm Sunday

“The Lord God has given me a well trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary.” Jesus knew how to speak to the weary and reached out to them again and again. This week in scripture, he speaks to the woman who anoints Him with oil from her alabaster jar, to Peter who denies Him, to his disciples as He washes their feet, as He heals the cut ear of the man who came to arrest Him, to the women on His walk to Calvary, to His mother as she stood at His feet, to the thieves on the cross, and to us. His speaks with understanding, love and forgiveness.

I know what it is like to carry the burden of sinning against God, others and myself. I am consumed by my sin. How could I have done things differently? Will everyone find out? What will they think of me? What relationships have I ruined? How will everyone react to me now? My sins have a way of making me weary.

I know my sin could easily become a trap of doubt and despair, but I also know that I have a Savior who loves me and who wants me to return to Him, and return to who I am – a child of God. When Jesus died on the cross, it wasn’t just for all of the people alive at that time; it was for me - today. It was for you - today. He died on the cross to free us from sin by offering us forgiveness. Like the thieves who hung beside Him, we have two paths to take. We can refuse His sacrifice and deny what He offers us. Or we can realize who He is, what He has done for us and ask for forgiveness.

Asking for forgiveness is difficult for many people; however our Church has designed a way to help us. It is called confession, because we put a name to what shames us, and to how we have hurt God, our neighbor and ourselves. This sacrament is also called penance which is a desire to be forgiven. Don’t we all desire to be forgiven and reunited with the ones we love? This sacrament is also called reconciliation because that is what we want most, to be reconciled to God, our neighbor, and ourselves.

In our church Jesus hangs on the cross above the altar. His arms are open. His arms are waiting to embrace us. Jesus was and is always willing to forgive us. Will His gift go unopened? This last week of Lent we have an opportunity to open this gift. Tuesday, April 7th at 7:30 pm, our parish is providing a reconciliation service with over 20 priests, who will put on Christ to hear our confession and help us reconcile ourselves to Him. Our Church is also providing the opportunity to reconcile ourselves after the 9:00 am mass on Tuesday, and on Saturday at 3:45 pm.

Aren’t we tired of carrying around our sin? Jesus had words for the weary. Will we hear them? He has given us such a marvelous gift by his death and resurrection. Will we be like the bad thief on the cross and deny this gift or will we be like the good thief and open it?