Sunday Gospel Reflection
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 2, 2021
The Vine is Life
Carlo S. Dureza
An interesting anecdote from a fellowship gathering went like this: a road worker painted 1-meter lines in yellow on asphalt to aid in safe and orderly vehicle traffic and pedestrian crossing.
Upon painting, he put the can of yellow acrylic on one spot of the road and continued to coat one-meter lines one after another with short space intervals on the long stretch. As he moved farther, the lines became more and more pale in color and rough in texture. The yellow paint seemed to have diminished in intensity and value.
This phenomenon was caused by the distance of the paint can from each of the yellow lines as these got painted subsequently. Because the paint can was permanently still at one spot, the farther it’s distance from the line painted, the paler and rougher the line looked.
In a quite similar circumstance, an embittered woman in her twilight years distanced herself from her immediate family. She kept afar and lived alone without communicating with her mother, brothers, and sisters. Her heart was filled with rancor against them.
As years had gone by, her health faltered. She became lonely and wilted like an ill-nourished plant that wasn’t watered and bathed in sunlight. She died broken-hearted in a somber hospice.
Today’s gospel talks about a vine and its branches. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and God is the vine grower. God prunes the vine that yields fruit, is lush in its leaves, and is sturdily attached to the vine. He nurtures it more. But, He throws the withered branches into the fire as it shows no signs of life.
We must all remain attached to the vine, Jesus, in order to have life and to breathe life to others. Being detached from the vine would mean cutting oneself from the source of life, the giver of this most precious gift.
Those street lines that lost its yellow luster were the farthest ones from its source, the paint can! Thick coats of paint faded with distance. The farther the line from the paint can was, the more death-pale it looked!
Likewise, the woman who distanced herself from her family, the genuine origin of filial love, deliberately extinguished her life slowly as she had consciously cut it off from its source. Hence, death overtook her.
Let us keep ourselves attached to the genuine source of life, Jesus. May we also entrust ourselves to the vinegrower, God our Father. Let us be living branches to the vine. In Him we would remain alive, fresh, fruitful, and joyful as we continue our earthly journey towards Heaven.
Have a wonderful Sunday! God bless!
