He prunes every branch that bears fruit

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Il-Ħames Ħadd ta’ l-Għid

Messalin B 294

Reading 1  -   Acts 9:26-31

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus. The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers. This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni -   mill-Ktieb ta' l-Atti ta' l-Appostli 9, 26-31

F'dak iż-żmien,  meta Sawl wasal Ġerusalemm beda jfittex li jissieħeb mad-dixxipli. Imma  lkoll kienu  jibżgħu minnu, għax ma kinux emmnux li tassew ikkonverta. Imbagħad Barnaba qabdu u ħadu miegħu   għand l-appostli.    Hu qalilhom kif Sawl  kien ra lill-Mulej fit-triq u semgħu jkellmu, u kif f'Damasku kien tkellem  b'wiċċu minn  quddiem fl-isem ta' Ġesu'.   Għalhekk  Sawl  baqa' magħhom, dieħel u ħiereġ f'Ġerusalemm, u  kien jitkellem  bil-miftuħ f'isem il-Mulej.    Kien  jitħaddet mal-Lhud Griegi u jiddiskuti  magħhom; iżda huma kienu jfittxu li joqtluh.  Meta l-aħwa saru jafu b'dan, niżżluh lejn  Ċesarija u bagħtuh Tarsu. Il-Knisja kienet fis-sliem fil-Lhudija u  l-Galililja u s-Samarija kollha;  kienet dejjem  tikber u timxi 'l quddiem fil-biża'  tal-Mulej u  tiżdied fl-għadd  bl-għajnuna tal-Ispirtu s-Santu.              Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm          -- Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32

R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.  or: Alleluia.

I will fulfill my vows before those who fear the LORD.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
"May your hearts live forever!"                                  R/

All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
all the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.                                      R/

To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth;
before him shall bend
all who go down into the dust.                                  R/

And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.                                            R/

Salm Responsorjali   -    Salm 21 (22)

R/   Mulej, nagħtik  it-tifħir tiegħi f'ġemgħa kbira. Jew Hallelujah,  Hallelujah

Irrodd il-wegħdiet tiegħi

quddiem dawk li jibżgħu minnu.

Jieklu l-fqajrin u jixbgħu;

ifaħħru l-Mulej dawk li jfittxuh.

Ħa tgħix qalbhom għal dejjem!                                R/

Jiftakru t-truf  kollha ta' l-art;

u jerġgħu lura  lejn il-Mulej;

u quddiemu jixteħtu r-razez kollha tal-ġnus.

Lilu  jqimu l-bnedmin, li jmutu;

quddiemu jmil lull min nieżel ġot-trab

U għalih tgħix ir-ruħ.                                                     R/

Lilu jaqdi n-nisel tiegħi.

Ixandru  'l Sidi n-nisel li  għad jiġi,.

ixandru l-ġustizzja tiegħu

lill-poplu li għad jitwieled:

" Dan  għamlu l-Mulej "                                                R/

Reading 2                              1 John 3:18-24

Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us. This is the Word of The Lord.

 It-Tieni Qari   -    mill-Ewwel Ittra ta' San Ġwann Apposltu 3, 18-24

Uliedi, ma nħobbux bil-kliem u t-tpaċpiċ, imma bl-għemil u bis-sewwa. Minn dan naslu li nagħrfu  li aħna fil-verita', u quddiem Alla nserrħu l-kuxjenza tagħna, jekk  il-kuxjenza ċċanfarna, għax Alla hu aqwa  mill-kuxjenza tagħna, u hu jaf kollox.  Għeżież,  jekk il-kuxjenza tagħna ma ċċanfarniex aħna qalbna qawwija quddiem Alla, u kull ma nitolbu naqilgħuh mingħandu, għax qegħdin inżommu l-kmandamenti tiegħu, u nagħmlu dak li jogħġob lilu. Dan hu l-kmandment tiegħu: li nemmnu fl-isem  ta' Ibnu Ġesu' Kristu, u  nħobbu 'l xulxin, kif  wissiena hu.   Min iżomm  il-kmandamenti tiegħu  jgħammar f'Alla u Alla fih.   B'hekk nagħrfu li hu  jgħammar fina: bl-Ispirtu li hu tana.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                                   John 15:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples: "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 every one 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. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." This is the Word of The Lord.

Evanġelju   -    skond  San Ġwann 15, 1-8

F'dak iż-żmien,  Ġesu' qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu: "Jiena d-dielja vera u Missieri l-bidwi.  Kull fergħa fija li  ma tagħmilx frott jaqtagħha;  u kull waħda li tagħmel il-frott jiżborha u jnaddafha, biex tagħmel frott aktar.    Intom ġa ndaf minħabba  fil-kelma li għidtilkom. Ibqgħu fija, u  jien nibqa' fikom.   Kif il-fergħa ma  tistax tagħmel frott  minnha  nfissha jekk ma tibqax  fid-dielja, hekk anqas  intom jekk ma tibqgħux fija.   Jiena d-dielja, intom il-friegħi.   Min jibqa' fija u  jiena fih, dan jagħmel ħafna frott;  għax mingħajri  ma tistgħu tagħmlu xejn.    Jekk wieħed ma jibqax fija,  jintremma  barra  bħal fergħa u jinxef; imbagħad, friegħi  bħal dawn  jiġbruhom u jixħtuhom fin-nar u jinħarqu. Jekk tibqgħu fija u kliemi jibqa' fikom, itolbu kull ma  tridu,  u jingħatalkom.   Din hi l-glorja ta'  Missieri, li  intom tagħmlu ħafna frott u  tkunu dixxipli tiegħi." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Father Cantalamessa on Pruning

He Prunes Every Branch that Bears Fruit

"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" (John 15:1-2).

In his teaching, Jesus often begins with things that are familiar to those listening to him, things that everyone could see. This time he speaks to us with the image of the vine and the branches.

Jesus sets forth two situations. The first is negative: The branch is dry, it bears no fruit, and so it is cut off and thrown away. The second is positive: The branch is living and healthy, and so it is pruned.

This contrast already tells us that pruning is not a hostile act to the branch. The vinedresser expects much from it; he knows it can bear fruit; he has confidence in it. The same happens on the spiritual plane. God intervenes in our lives with the cross. It does not mean he is irritated with us but, in fact, the opposite.

But, why does the vinedresser prune the branch and make the vine "weep," as is usually said. For a very simple reason: If it is not pruned, the strength of the vine is wasted; it will bear perhaps more bunches than it should, with the consequence that not all will ripen and that the rating of the wine will be lower. If it remains a long time without being pruned, the vine even becomes wild and produces only vine tendrils and wild grapes.

The same happens in our lives. To live is to choose, and to choose is to deny oneself. The person who wants to do too many things in life, or cultivates innumerable interests and hobbies, is dispersed, and will not be outstanding in anything.

One must have the courage to make choices, to put some secondary interests to one side to concentrate on the primary. To prune!

This is even truer in the spiritual life. Holiness is like a sculpture. Leonardo da Vinci defined sculpture as "the art of removing." The other arts consist in adding something: color to the canvas in painting, stone on stone in architecture, note after note in music.

Only sculpture consists of removing, of taking away the pieces of marble that are in excess, so that the figure can emerge that one has in mind. Christian perfection is also obtained like this, by removing and making useless pieces fall off, namely, desires, ambitions, projects, carnal tendencies that disperse us and do not let us finish anything.

One day, Michelangelo walking through a garden in Florence saw a block of marble in a corner protruding from the earth, half covered by grass and mud.

He stopped suddenly, as if he had seen someone, and turning to friends, who were with him, exclaimed: "An angel is imprisoned in that marble; I must get him out." And, armed with a chisel, he began to work on that block until the figure of a beautiful angel emerged.

God also looks at us and sees us this way: as shapeless blocks of stone. He then says to himself: "Therein is hidden a new and beautiful creature that waits to come out to the light; more than that, the image of my own son Jesus Christ is hidden there, I want to bring it out!" We are predestined to "be conformed to the image of his son" (Romans 8:29).

Then, what does He do? He takes the chisel, which is the cross, and begins to work on us. He takes the pruning shears, and begins to prune us.

We must not worry ourselves thinking of what terrible crosses he may send us! Normally, he does not add anything to what life presents us in terms of suffering, effort, tribulations. He makes all these things serve for our purification. He helps us to not waste them.

[Translation by ZENIT]   © Innovative Media Inc.