“ Be His disciple and bear much fruit .” This is the main message we are told today, my sisters and brothers, on the fifth Sunday of Easte...
“Be His disciple and bear much fruit.” This is the main message we are told today, my sisters and brothers, on the fifth Sunday of Easter. We are invited to remain with him and his words so that whenever we ask for something, it will be done for us. Our readings for today give us basic elements that could help us be his disciples and bear much fruit: PAUL, PRUNING, and PAMAMAHAL.
PAUL. We are given the person of Paul as an example of becoming a disciple. We all know who he was and what he used to do! He persecuted the Christians. He was even present when they stoned St. Stephen to death. He used to kill Christians, and now he is a believer, a convert. So, I would not wonder why the disciples feared him and did not believe him at first. I could imagine some of them covering their mouth and whispering, nakataas pa yung mga kilay, gossiping about him, talking ill about him. Parang kayo diba, paminsan? When we know the background of someone who would join the church and know that his or her background is not good, we either pretend to be good to that person or immediately reject the person. But that should not be our attitude. All of us were given chances to change and be part of this big community, our church.
We are all like Paul, sinners and unworthy but given another chance to be Jesus’ disciple even if we haven’t seen the Lord physically. So don’t be bothered pag nakita ninyo yung makasalanan sa area nyo at nandito sa loob ng simbahan attending a Mass. Or someone worth stoning to death pero attending community and church-based programs or the Mass itself. Wala na kayong pakialam if he or she is pretending to be holy. Ang important is your attitude toward nonmembers, former non-believers, and other sinners just like you and me. We should be more concerned about the welfare of our brothers and sisters who are not one of us or wanting to be part of our community. Just like what the apostles did to Paul when there was a threat to his life, they took him down and sent him on his way to Tarsus, helping him escape and be safe. Ang iba sa atin pagnapahamak yung kalaban natin, ang sabi lagi natin, beh buti nga sa kanya. Dapat yan mas ganito pa, ganyan pa nangyari. That’s not the right attitude, my dear friends, of a true follower of Christ.
We should wish for God’s care of our sinful brothers and sisters and not condemn or speak ill of them. We should be praying for our ill-mannered brothers and sisters. Show them mercy and love, and we will be seen as faithful disciples of Jesus. And I tell you, the Holy Spirit will help our community be much bigger and at peace. And all our efforts in this church will bear much fruit.
PRUNING. My grandfather was an agriculture professor at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, and he used to teach me different methods of grafting, planting, and growing trees. I learned a lot from him, and so I understand why trees are to be pruned so that they will bear much fruit. When I studied theology in Spain, I understood its meaning better because we have a small orchard where grapes are planted. We used to prune them so that they would bear more fruits when it was the season.
If the vine is not pruned, the number of grape clusters would be excessive, and the grapevine would be unable to ripen the large crop or produce adequate vegetative growth. Pruning aims to obtain maximum yields of high-quality grapes and allow adequate vegetative growth for the following season.
The Lord said that we are already pruned because of the Word that he spoke to us (to them, but it also applies to us). All we have to do is to remain in Him as he remains in us. His teachings, the Word that we listen to, read, and live (I hope) prune as. … parang hindi naman pads sasabihin ninyo sa akin.
In our lives, we have so much excess baggage to throw, to prune. Ang dami nating dala dala. Which we have accumulated from our childhood hangang sa tumanda. We have anger: sa mundo, sa buhay, sa magulang, sa pamilya, sa kasama nyo, sa mga taong pasaway, sa pulitika, sa bayan, sa simbahan, sa init ng araw (hehehe), sa mukha ng katabi nyo. We have been very proud: of ourselves, of our ambitions, our success, our wealth, of who we are and would never bow down even when we are wrong at times. We have so much greed: for excess things that are not necessary, for wanting more kaya we get what is due for others and not for us. We are envious of the success and fame of others, sa narating o nararating nila sabuhay dahil ikaw wala, di pinagpala ng Diyos, di nananalo sa lotto kahit ilang taya na wala pa din, dahil mas maganda damit ng kapitbahay mo, etc etc. You know the seven deadly sins. And all of this is because we lack something, which leads me to the last point: PAGMAMAHAL.
PAGMAMAHAL. Love is the key to being true disciples of Christ, to remain in him, and to bear much fruit. If you are a Christian and you don’t know how to love truly, then you are not a Christian because you are not keeping his commandments and doing what pleases him. St John said in the second reading, “his command 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.”
Aside from climate change and what we do to our world, if the reason it’s too hot now these days is that there are fewer trees, well, the reason the world is not at peace and our efforts are not fruitful is that WE LACK LOVE—love that keeps us attached to the vine and remains in Him.
Are all your hiling kay Lord di natutupad? Are all our efforts in the Christian community not doing well? Are our prayers not answered? Are you bearing fruits as Christians? CHECK WHETHER YOU HAVE PRUNED YOURSELF AND THE AMOUNT OF LOVE YOU GIVE. Baka kailangan mo dagdagan ang iyong PAGMAMAHAL SA DIYOS AT SA KAPWA.
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