Fifth Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)

I am the vine, you are the branches,” the Lord says. We have great strength and power when we are attached to, united to the Eternal Vine. We have the life force of the Lord flowing through us. Our strength comes from our union with Christ. We are under the beautiful umbrella tree of Christ’s love. But the beauty of all those leaves is due to the source of their life. They get their life from the main vine. Christ is the source of our beauty. We must fight to stay united to our Lord, our Vine. He is our life blood. We have to pray to him every day. We have to continue to seek his love as he extend it to us. We have to avoid severing our relations with him. «See what love the Father has bestowed on us in becoming children of God,» says St. John in the second reading for this Sunday . Look at all the beautiful parts of our lives. The beauty is there because God is there. Should we lose God we will be cut off from the vine. Cut off from God we also become an eyesore to humanity and to ourselves. But united with him we are a work of divine art.

The Gospel today speaks about bearing fruit. If the branch is united to the vine, it bears much fruit. God calls us to make His message real in the world. He calls us to bring His Love to the world. He is not calling us just to be in His presence. He is calling us to use His Presence to transform the world. Husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends, priests and laity, are called to live the only Life that matters so completely that others are attracted to that Life, within the home, within the neighborhood and within the world. The Life of Christ is indeed a magnet. When people experience this Life in others they want it for themselves. These people, those who turn to God, are fruit. Our union with God draws them to God. They are the fruit we have been called to bear. «By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.» We come to Church to praise God, to worship God, but if this is all we do, reverence His Presence here, and then return to a pagan world living like pagans, accepting and even flaunting pagan values, we are not really worshiping God. We are only worshiping God when we take what we experience in church out to a world that longs for His Presence.

The motto for this year Archbishop’s Appeal is to Walk United in Christ. This is what we do every time we are at Mass. We gather so we may be nourished. We are nourished so we may be sent to others. When we live our Christianity in our workplace, at our schools, in our neighborhoods, others experience the Word of God that is within us. And the very Power of God will work through us in ways beyond our understanding, for that is Who God is, the one who is beyond our understanding. When we do this, when we are united to the vine, then we can do the work of the Christian. We can draw others to Him. We can bear fruit. We fight against all evil forces trying to keep us from union with the Vines • AE

St. Dominic Catholic Church • Weekend Schedule

Saturday, April 27, 2024

8.30 a.m. Spiritual Retreat for First Communion Kids.

3.00 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation – Fr. Jaime

5.00 p.m. Holy Mass (English) – Fr. Jaime

Sunday, April 28, 2024

7.30 a.m. Holy Mass (English) – Fr. Agustin E.

10.00 a.m. Holy Mass (English) – Fr. Agustin E.

12.30 p.m. Holy Mass (English) – Fr. Jaime P.

3.00 p.m. Santa Misa – P. Paco

V Domingo de Pascua (Ciclo B)

Icono bizantino que representa a Jesús como la Vid a los apóstoles como los sarmientos

La imagen es sencilla pero de una gran fuerza expresiva. Jesús es la vid verdadera, llena de vida y sus discípulos somos los sarmientos que viven de la savia que nos llega de Jesús; el Padre es el viñador que cuida personalmente la viña para que dé fruto abundante. Lo único importante es que se vaya haciendo realidad su proyecto de un mundo más humano y feliz para todos.

Y la imagen pone de relieve dónde está el problema. Hay sarmientos secos por los que no circula la savia de Jesús. Discípulos que no dan frutos porque no corre por sus venas el Espíritu del Señor, comunidades cristianas que languidecen desconectadas de su persona. Por eso se hace una afirmación cargada de intensidad: «el sarmiento no puede dar fruto si no permanece en la vid»: la vida de los discípulos es estéril si no permanecemos en Jesús. Sus palabras son categóricas: «Sin mí no pueden hacer nada». ¿No es esta la raíz de la crisis por la que atravesamos?

Vivir sin una unión vital con Jesucristo no tiene mucho futuro, al final el cristianismo se volvería un tipo de folklore anacrónico que no aportará a nadie la Buena Noticia del Evangelio. La Iglesia no podrá llevar a cabo su misión en el mundo contemporáneo, si los cristianos no nos convertimos en discípulos de Jesús, animados por su espíritu y su pasión por un mundo más humano.

Ser cristiano exige pues una experiencia vital de Jesucristo, un conocimiento interior de su persona y una pasión por su proyecto, que no se requerían para ser practicante dentro de una sociedad de cristiandad. Si no aprendemos a vivir de un contacto más inmediato y apasionado con Jesús, la decadencia de nuestro cristianismo se puede convertir en una enfermedad mortal. Los cristianos vivimos hoy preocupados y distraídos por muchas cuestiones. Es entendible, ¡hay tanto qué hacer! Pero no podemos olvidarnos de lo esencial: somos sarmientos. Sólo Jesús es la verdadera vid. Lo decisivo en estos momentos es permanecer en él: aplicar toda nuestra atención al Evangelio; alimentar en nuestros grupos, redes sociales, comunidades y parroquias el contacto vivo con él; no separarnos de él ni física, ni espiritual ni emocionalmente • AE