The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite reflection on pruning that has been part of our journey.
Ready to prune?
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives background to the Council at Jerusalem.
* [15:1–5] When some of the converted Pharisees of Jerusalem discover the results of the first missionary journey of Paul, they urge that the Gentiles be taught to follow the Mosaic law. Recognizing the authority of the Jerusalem church, Paul and Barnabas go there to settle the question of whether Gentiles can embrace a form of Christianity that does not include this obligation.1
Psalm 122 is a song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem.
* [Psalm 122] A song of Zion, sung by pilgrims obeying the law to visit Jerusalem three times on a journey. The singer anticipates joining the procession into the city (Ps 122:1–3). Jerusalem is a place of encounter, where the people praise God (Ps 122:4) and hear the divine justice mediated by the king (Ps 122:5). The very buildings bespeak God’s power (cf. Ps 48:13–15). May the grace of this place transform the people’s lives (Ps 122:6–9)!2
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the True Vine.
* [15:1–17] Like Jn 10:1–5, this passage resembles a parable. Israel is spoken of as a vineyard at Is 5:1–7; Mt 21:33–46 and as a vine at Ps 80:9–17; Jer 2:21; Ez 15:2; 17:5–10; 19:10; Hos 10:1. The identification of the vine as the Son of Man in Ps 80:15 and Wisdom’s description of herself as a vine in Sir 24:17 are further background for portrayal of Jesus by this figure. There may be secondary eucharistic symbolism here; cf. Mk 14:25, “the fruit of the vine.”3
Joan Blandin Howard asks herself, how was God/Spirit with her, abiding in her, as she sat in vigil with her beloved tree being taken down.
Gradually, I did experience a glimmer of gratitude for the numerous gifts over decades that tree had given. I sat with this, savoring it and very gradually experienced a sort of joy. There is more here to savor. Ask yourself, when and how have I experienced God/Jesus/Spirit abiding in me in a tragic moment – maybe sometime during this year off COVID? Take your time sitting with Spirit. Where is God’s lifegiving fruit of joy in my life? Difficult questions in hard times. In love the answer, the comfort, the joy will come.4
Don Schwager quotes “Cleansed by Jesus' word,” by Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D.
"So the world - life enslaved by carnal passions - can no more receive the grace of the Spirit than a weak eye can look at the light of a sunbeam. First the Lord cleansed his disciples' lives through his teaching, and then he gave them the ability to both see and contemplate the Spirit. He says, 'You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you' (John 15:3). Therefore 'the world cannot receive him, because it neither sees him nor knows him... You know him, for he dwells with you' (John 14:17). Isaiah says, 'He who settled the earth and the things in it; and gives breath to the people on it, and Spirit to them that tread on it' (Isaiah 42:5). From this we can learn that those who trample earthly things and rise above them become worthy to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (excerpt from ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 22.53)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 15:1-8 notes Jesus has said he is the true vine.
The more we acknowledge him as our source of life, remain in him, and ask him to remove obstacles to his grace in us, the more like him we will become. We will bear good and lasting fruit! “Jesus, help me to remain in you as a branch in a vine. I want to bear fruit for your kingdom!”6
Friar Jude Winkler explains the controversy about how to treat Gentile Christians. The meeting in Jerusalem practiced discernment. Friar Jude is reminded of the Eucharistic references in the Gospel of John.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares the thoughts of Sherri Mitchell, Attorney and activist from the Penobscot Nation and Kaitlin Curtice, a member of the Potawatomi Nation on trauma and healing.
The collective and intergenerational trauma that Sherri Mitchell describes manifests in individual bodies and requires healing on multiple levels. Kaitlin Curtice, a dear personal friend and member of the Potawatomi Nation, shares: I am someone who journeys with trauma. The next step after naming my trauma—the trauma of assimilation, the trauma of being an Indigenous woman who grew up in the Baptist church, the trauma of a broken family, the trauma of struggling with anxiety, and more—was to learn how to live with the reality of those traumas, because once we name something out loud, it becomes true in a way it wasn’t before. My journey with trauma includes learning to love myself in a more embodied way, continuing therapy, and actually stepping out of toxic church spaces and institutions into a fuller journey with the Christian faith that accepts me as I am.7
Trust the nudges of the Spirit as we accept pruning to enhance our capacity for love and compassion.
References
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