Fifth Sunday of Easter

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050612.cfm

Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.

A constant concern of Jesus’ disciples, listeners and opponents is where he comes from. We have heard his first disciples ask, “Rabbi, where do you live?” and we will hear Pilate ask, “Where are you from?”

They also wonder where Jesus is going. Sometimes his talk is so mysterious they think he will commit suicide.

“I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?

He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.

The answer seems patently clear to readers of the Gospel  – Jesus comes from God, goes to God  and always abides in God.We heard that in the preamble:

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

But do we know what that means? It’s not a simple matter of geography, not even spiritual geography. The question is more pointed than that because it has to do with us, as Jesus explained to Peter:

Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.”

That’s good news, we think. We will follow later – where? We’d like to know. And Thomas will step right into it, asking,

“Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”

To which Jesus replies,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.

If we’re still thinking in terms of some kind of spiritual/fantasy geography, Jesus’ discourse is about as clear as mud. His home is neither on this earth nor in the sky.

But if we read this as an invitation to the Church and the Sacraments, we are beginning to understand his teaching: Remain in me, as I remain in you.

Remaining in Jesus may be called devotion, piety or fear of the Lord. Reverence is more than a posture or pretense. It is a way of being. It is listening to the Lord, or obeying God’s word, or setting one’s sails by the Spirit. It is living within that peace that surpasses understanding. It is having one ear trained on God’s guidance even as we go about our daily life.

This life in Christ is like the husband or wife who never forgets the spouse, whose mind is always attuned to what the other might be thinking or doing. Whenever a third party proposes something of major or minor consequence, the married person considers its implications for the spouse.

I knew one attractive young couple who agreed on a strategy for dealing with adulterous propositions from strangers: “I’ll have my spouse call you and the two of you can discuss it!” That efficiently settled the matter!

That’s why marriage is a sacrament; it is  abiding in the other who is Christ to both of them.

Abiding in Jesus is concern for the poor and the outcast; it is reverence for every person including welfare queens, murderers on death row, liberals, conservatives and the 1% wealthy. It is being the presence of God in a world many consider godless.