A parishioner's Gospel reflection
The Good Shepherd
22 April 2018: 4th Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)
Parishioner's Gospel
Contributor: Aidan Twomey
John 10: 11-18
We heard in the Holy Week liturgies the songs of the Suffering Servant from the book of Isiah, the fourth of which likens the servant to a lamb lead to the slaughter. We hear this fourth Sunday of Easter Jesus declaring himself to be the Good Shepherd who knows his own sheep.
Traders in financial markets have a concept called “skin in the game,” which differentiates those who have opinions about the market from those who have actual investments in the market. The former - academics, journalists, bloviators - suffer no consequences from their mistakes; the latter can be ruined. So skin in the game is a good indicator of who can be ignored and who can be respected. As creator of the world and human being obedient towards God, Jesus has the ultimate skin in the game, skin that was despised, spat upon, pierced. He stands on both sides of the transaction, as one who freely allows himself to be sacrificed that he may lead the little ones to the safety of his embrace.
Yet so many of us treat God as a sort of cosmic butler, someone we can ask to fix things when we need them fixing, but who can recede discretely when not required. This will not do. We need to know him, through our own thinking and our own prayer. But furthermore, a personal, individual relationship with Christ is not enough. We are a flock, his flock. The authority of the shepherd and the sacrifice of the lamb are a consequence of the unity of the Trinity. Divisions in the flock are incompatible with following the shepherd.
We must nourish our communion with all our fellow Christians that we may all travel together under his protection, arriving at the common destiny of humanity together.
29 April 2018: 5th Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)
Parishioner's Gospel
Contributor: Tony Luis
John 15: 1-8
Christ said I AM THE TRUE VINE - REMAIN IN ME, AND I IN YOU
In this chapter, Jesus is pictured for us as The True Vine
As they walked toward the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus began to talk to his disciples about vines, vine dressers and fruit. It was April and that meant that the grape vines would be beginning to blossom with the promise of a fresh harvest. As Jesus walked with his disciples, perhaps he reached out and took a vine in his hands and used it to teach an object lesson to his disciples.
These verses are an allegory (a work in which the characters represent other things and symbolically express a deeper meaning). There are four actors in this parable
• The Father is the vine grower.
• Christ is the vine.
• The disciples are branches
• Those who do not abide in Christ are useless branches
The vine imagery is familiar. In the Old Testament examples, Israel was the vine and was subject to judgment. In John 15, Jesus is the vine and it is the branches (the disciples or Israel) who are subject to judgement.
Vineyards are familiar to Jesus’ disciples. People pass vineyards as they walk from place to place. Some own their own vineyard or work in a vineyard. They are able to discern fruitful branches from those that will drain the vine’s energy. They trim unfruitful branches, all the while feeling good about the surgical purpose of their work. The pruning might seem cruel, but it renews the vine’s vitality. Useless vines drain the plant’s strength. To leave them in place serves no purpose and reduces the value of the vineyard. The vine grower cuts away unfruitful branches and, finding them unusable, burns them.
Where is the church here? The fruitful church is the branch that the vine grower prunes, but the unfruitful church is the branch that the vine grower removes and throws into the fire.
Jesus is the True Vine. He exists to bring glory to His Father, the Vine Dresser, by saving sinners, living through them and causing them to bear fruit. With this in mind let me close by asking you a few questions:
1. Are you "in the Vine"? Have you ever been genuinely saved and grafted into Jesus? If not, then you need to be and you need to be today!
2. Are you "abiding in the Vine"? Are you drawing your strength from Him so that he is able to produce fruit through your life? If you are, you will probably not even realize, but if you aren’t, you will know it for sure. If you are not abiding in Him and, as a result, you are not as fruitful as you should be, then you need to do something about it right now.
3. Has the Gardener been performing His purifying and pruning ministry in your life? If He has, remember that it is because He loves you and that He has a wonderful plan for your life.
Why not get before Him today and thank Him for not letting you “run to leaf,” and for caring enough about you to reach into your life to touch you and draw you unto Him?
Parishioner's Gospel
Contributor: Aidan Twomey
John 10: 11-18
We heard in the Holy Week liturgies the songs of the Suffering Servant from the book of Isiah, the fourth of which likens the servant to a lamb lead to the slaughter. We hear this fourth Sunday of Easter Jesus declaring himself to be the Good Shepherd who knows his own sheep.
Traders in financial markets have a concept called “skin in the game,” which differentiates those who have opinions about the market from those who have actual investments in the market. The former - academics, journalists, bloviators - suffer no consequences from their mistakes; the latter can be ruined. So skin in the game is a good indicator of who can be ignored and who can be respected. As creator of the world and human being obedient towards God, Jesus has the ultimate skin in the game, skin that was despised, spat upon, pierced. He stands on both sides of the transaction, as one who freely allows himself to be sacrificed that he may lead the little ones to the safety of his embrace.
Yet so many of us treat God as a sort of cosmic butler, someone we can ask to fix things when we need them fixing, but who can recede discretely when not required. This will not do. We need to know him, through our own thinking and our own prayer. But furthermore, a personal, individual relationship with Christ is not enough. We are a flock, his flock. The authority of the shepherd and the sacrifice of the lamb are a consequence of the unity of the Trinity. Divisions in the flock are incompatible with following the shepherd.
We must nourish our communion with all our fellow Christians that we may all travel together under his protection, arriving at the common destiny of humanity together.
29 April 2018: 5th Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)
Parishioner's Gospel
Contributor: Tony Luis
John 15: 1-8
Christ said I AM THE TRUE VINE - REMAIN IN ME, AND I IN YOU
In this chapter, Jesus is pictured for us as The True Vine
As they walked toward the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus began to talk to his disciples about vines, vine dressers and fruit. It was April and that meant that the grape vines would be beginning to blossom with the promise of a fresh harvest. As Jesus walked with his disciples, perhaps he reached out and took a vine in his hands and used it to teach an object lesson to his disciples.
These verses are an allegory (a work in which the characters represent other things and symbolically express a deeper meaning). There are four actors in this parable
• The Father is the vine grower.
• Christ is the vine.
• The disciples are branches
• Those who do not abide in Christ are useless branches
The vine imagery is familiar. In the Old Testament examples, Israel was the vine and was subject to judgment. In John 15, Jesus is the vine and it is the branches (the disciples or Israel) who are subject to judgement.
Vineyards are familiar to Jesus’ disciples. People pass vineyards as they walk from place to place. Some own their own vineyard or work in a vineyard. They are able to discern fruitful branches from those that will drain the vine’s energy. They trim unfruitful branches, all the while feeling good about the surgical purpose of their work. The pruning might seem cruel, but it renews the vine’s vitality. Useless vines drain the plant’s strength. To leave them in place serves no purpose and reduces the value of the vineyard. The vine grower cuts away unfruitful branches and, finding them unusable, burns them.
Where is the church here? The fruitful church is the branch that the vine grower prunes, but the unfruitful church is the branch that the vine grower removes and throws into the fire.
Jesus is the True Vine. He exists to bring glory to His Father, the Vine Dresser, by saving sinners, living through them and causing them to bear fruit. With this in mind let me close by asking you a few questions:
1. Are you "in the Vine"? Have you ever been genuinely saved and grafted into Jesus? If not, then you need to be and you need to be today!
2. Are you "abiding in the Vine"? Are you drawing your strength from Him so that he is able to produce fruit through your life? If you are, you will probably not even realize, but if you aren’t, you will know it for sure. If you are not abiding in Him and, as a result, you are not as fruitful as you should be, then you need to do something about it right now.
3. Has the Gardener been performing His purifying and pruning ministry in your life? If He has, remember that it is because He loves you and that He has a wonderful plan for your life.
Why not get before Him today and thank Him for not letting you “run to leaf,” and for caring enough about you to reach into your life to touch you and draw you unto Him?
| gospel_contributors_rota_from_jan_2018.pdf |
