Fifth Sunday of Easter/B
Massimo Palombella
In today’s Gospel (Jn 15:1-8), Jesus identifies Himself with the “vine” to illustrate the need for a deep union between Him and His disciples. Indeed, to bear fruit, for a true quality of our lives, it is necessary to “abide” in Jesus so that He can effectively “abide” in us (the Greek verb used is μένω [menó]).
“Abiding” in Jesus is, at some point in our lives, a choice of ours to be renewed every day, in every decision we make. A choice that is not taken for granted and, sometimes, not easy.
We remain in the Lord when we decide not to take revenge, when, not without difficulty, we forgive, when we allow our horizons to broaden, when we accept challenges, when, not without difficulty, we change our lives, when we accept to question our criteria for reading reality.
“Abiding” in the Lord is what truly enables and ensures an “inner life”, a real “spiritual” life.
“Abiding” in Him makes possible a certain “intelligence” of our life where our passions, reactions, fears, anger, sorrows, needs are all understood from above, placed in a broad architecture capable of protecting the truth of our life.
We may sometimes find ourselves far from the Lord, in a situation where we lose ourselves and no longer “abide” in Him, where it happens that our passions, our insolvencies take over. The Lord, however, continues to “abide” in us, waits patiently to lead us back to the truth, to “life in abundance”.
The Offertory Antiphon of today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 65 (Ps 65, 1.2.16) with the following text:
“Iubilate Deo, universa terra,
psalmum dicite nomini eius.
Venite, et audite, et narrabo vobis, omnes qui timetis Deum,
quanta fecit Dominus animae meae, alleluia.”
(Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
shout with joy to God, all the earth;
sing a psalm in honour of his name; come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell you what great things the Lord has done for my soul, alleluia).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The interpretation is by the Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis conducted by Giuseppe Gaffurini. The musical track can be found on the CD “The ancient splendour of Gregorian chant” published by La Gloria/Rusty Records in 1991.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
