fifth Sunday- B

Fifth Sunday of Easter-B
Stay connected to Christ the servant: Some years ago, Mother Teresa was asked by a reporter one day, “What is your biggest problem?” Without a moment of hesitation, Mother Teresa answered with one word: “Professionalism.” She said: “Here are these servants of Jesus who care for the poorest of the poor. I have one who just went off and came back with her medical degree. Others have come back with registered nurse degrees. Another with a master’s in social work… and when they came back with their degrees… their first question always is, ‘Where is my office?’ Then she said, ‘But you know what I do? I send them over to the House of the Dying where they simply hold the hands of dying people for six months and after that, they’re ready to be servants again.’” [Victor D. Pentz, “Take This Job and Love It” Protestant Hour Sermon, (3/14/2005), p.3.] This was the greatness of Mother Teresa… her unflinching commitment to stay connected to Christ’s Servant Mentality.
　
We often hear about ‘family tree’. It is a method of tracing back your ancestors. In these days, people travel to distant countries to trace their family of origin and the method of family tree is also used to see why a person has certain psychological challenges or problems in personal life.
In the book of Exodus, when Moses asked the name of the Almighty, God uttered, “I am who I am”. I am the Lord, God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I was, I am and I will be.
Moses then understood that God is one and He is his God Thus he made the immediate connection with Him and obeyed the will of the Father.
And in the New Testament, one of the Apostles of Jesus called Philip asked Christ, “ Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied”. And Christ the Lord responded saying, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me seen has seen the Father. The Father is in me and I am in the Father and the Father and I are one.
In the gospel of John, Christ the Lord uses seven times the word, “I am...” The same God who said, “I am who I am” is the Lord who says, “I am the bread of life. I am the life, the way and the truth and I am the good shepherd and I am the vine”.
And in today’s gospel, Christ the Lord says, “I am the vine and you are the branches... as you are with me, you will bear much fruit”.
He invites us to have a physical connection with Him. How can we have a constant physical connection with the Lord. How is it possible to hold His hand tight and walk with Him each and every day? Jesus says, “Any one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will never die but will have eternal life”. Yes, dear friends as we come to church and receive His body and thus we connect with Him twenty-four seven. Thus we have a strong physical connection with the Lord. This very connection makes us courageous to face our present day situations.
The Lord who says, “I am the vine and you are the branches” invites us to have a strong spiritual connection with Him. How can we have a spiritual connection with Him? And How can we improve ourselves knowing that we are His image and likeness and grow spiritually each and every day? Through our every day prayers and other spiritual practices. The Holy Catholic Church does have so many prayer methods and especially the month of May which is dedicated to our Blessed Virgin Mary has to offer amazing Marian prayers that lead us to Christ.
As we grow in physical and spiritual connections with Christ, Jesus our Lord says that we will bear much fruit. Yes, because of Christ-connection, we the branches extend ourselves to the world and help others to know and experience the Love and kindness of God. So let us unite ourselves with the Vine and bear much fruit. Amen.