5th Sunday in Easter B April 28, 2024

Fr. Rick’s Five-Minute Homily for the 5th Sunday in Easter B
April 28, 2024, John 15:1-8
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042824.cfm

Abide – Always With Us

Did you ever have a job or project that seemed to consume your mind and life, even when you weren’t working on it? Some of my studies in the seminary were just so overwhelming I never thought the day would come when it was over. You see, I had an operation that made me miss three months of classes. I had six weeks to prepare for exams.

Thank the Lord, I made it with the help of so many good brothers and professors. It was amazing when I think back on it. When I read the Gospel for Sunday, the word “abide” stuck out, and I thought of those six weeks of intense studies. I abided with all those subjects; they never left me. I fell asleep every night reading a paper or an article.

Jesus calls us to abide in Him, and He in us. There isn’t a waking or sleeping moment in which Jesus doesn’t want to be with us, intimately involved in everything about us. We can all remember moments when we didn’t abide with Jesus.

Those moments are like a branch broken off a vine dying a slow death. We don’t notice it right away. We start skipping our morning or night prayers. Then we might miss a Sunday Mass or two. Confession never enters our minds. Cut off from His Word and Body and Blood doesn’t seem to have much effect on us.

After a while, something changes in us, and our enthusiasm for life dries up. Our love for family members changes, too. We don’t give them the same attention we used to, and they seem distant. Our patience runs thin. Sometimes, we have a short fuse. I am exaggerating a little bit, but you get the idea.

Jesus reminded us in today’s gospel, “I am the Vine. You are the branches.” God became man in Jesus. He uses real stuff, bread, wine, oil, water, and vows so He can enter into and substantially live our lives with us. Before His Ascension, He said, “I will be with you always, until the end of the world.” He does that truly, physically, in the Seven Sacraments.

Gospel Challenge:

You can feel Him with your hands. You can taste Him with your mouth, and He stays with us – Abides with us. Jesus suffers with us. He rejoices with us. Our God in Jesus is incredibly in love with us. What more could He do to show us? What more can we do to show Him?

Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
www.bscchurch.com