Search
Our Sunday Reflection - April 28, 2024
-
-
"I am the vine, you are the branches."
John 15:1-8
-
-
-
Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day
“I am the vine, you are the branches,” we hear Jesus tell his disciples in today’s Gospel. We are those branches now. Connected to the vine that is the Lord, we are expected to bear fruit. What fruit do we bear? Let us contemplate that question as we prepare to celebrate Mass today. May listening to God’s word and sharing in the Eucharist nourish us as we strive to bear good fruit for the Lord.Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
In the first reading, we catch a glimpse of Saint Paul (still called Saul) at a unique time. Just recently converted, he is intent on speaking boldly in Jesus’ name. John tells us that believing in Jesus’ name and loving one another are the ways to remain in him. Finally, we hear Jesus ask his disciples to remain in him as branches remain on a vine. In doing so, he assures them, they will bear fruit abundantly. Let us hear how we can become such disciples ourselves.Reflections
- Visualize your family tree. Perhaps your grandparents or great-grandparents are the trunk of the tree, with branches of aunts and uncles and cousins, and smaller ones for children and grandchildren. Spouses are grafted onto the tree, with family trees of their own that they bring to your family. Through births and marriages, the family tree grows and grows. We are part of God’s family tree. We are all God’s children and in baptism we were grafted onto that one tree. This tree is a living thing, growing and producing fruit for generations to come.
- We are connected to each other, like the branches of a vine. All of us are connected to Jesus as the vine itself. As the vine, Jesus gives us support and sustenance, enabling us to bear fruit. For the vine is a living thing, designed to grow and develop. We help the vine do this when we put our faith into practice, when we sacrifice ourselves for the least of our sisters and brothers, for they too are connected to the vine. In doing so, we nurture the vine and, as Jesus told his disciples, we glorify God.
- Saul was in a very difficult place after his conversion. By immediately boldly speaking in Jesus’ name, he stirred up murderous feelings in the Hellenists, who were probably Greek-speaking Jews living outside Judea. But most of the disciples still feared him, for he had just been persecuting them, even presiding over Stephen’s stoning. Barnabas saves the day—and Saul’s skin. Convinced of Saul’s sincerity, Barnabas vouched for him to the disciples. In a way, Barnabas was like a node on the vine, allowing Saul to be grafted onto it and accepted by the other branches. Not even Barnabas could have guessed then that Saul—renamed Paul—would go on to bear fruit like no other branch of the vine, adding branches of the vine all over the known world.
Question of the Week
How will I bear fruit this week . . . at home, at work or school, and in my community?
-from Pastoral Patterns
-
readings of the mass
LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, April 28, 2024
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, April 28, 2024
-
Offerings
The Sunday offerings are a portion of our blessings that we give to God (Church) in gratitude to what God has done for us...ONLINE GIVING OPTIONS -
Reflections on the readings
-
-
-
-
News from the Vatican
-
yesterday“Let us not be afraid to scale down our plans when necessary, not in order to diminish them but to make them even more beautiful through the gift of ourselves and the acceptance of others,” Pope... -
yesterdayOn his second day in East Timor, the nation with the largest percentage of Catholics in Asia, Pope Francis told leaders of the local church to continue their efforts at evangelization and building... -
3 days agoIn one of Papua New Guinea’s most remote dioceses, where the church was established thanks to the presence of foreign missionaries, Pope Francis told faithful to spread God’s beauty and love wherever...
-
-