Year B
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Images
Bearing fruit
Attachment to God
Mystical Body of
Christ
Points to note
As mentioned in the leaflet for Easter 3, this is
part of a four-week journey that John is leading us. You may wish to read that leaflet to set this
Sunday in context.
This passage is
largely based on images. We will have to
be careful of the image we wish to put across.
It contains a powerful image of a vine to be pruned and burnt in the
fire. An overemphasis on disposal of the
discarded vine in the fire may convey too negative an image.
There is an image there of a vine bearing fruit. I suggest that we begin with this image,
which is both easily understood and is positive. Each one of us produces fruits and we must
remember that this is due to God. If we
are no longer attached to God, we lose our fruit-bearing abilities.
Liturgy
Explain about the vine. Get the children to describe how a vine looks like.
The vine is
a common crop in Palestine where it grows luxuriantly. In the first three years, however, a young
vine is not allowed to bear fruit as this is seen as sapping the vine of
nutrients in order to bear immature grapes instead. It is therefore very drastically pruned. Even when the vine is matured, branches that
do not bear fruit are pruned for very much the same reasons. This is often done twice a year. A good vine therefore does not produce good
grapes without drastic pruning.
The wood of
the vine is too soft to be any good and is often collected to be burned in a
bonfire. It does not even qualify under
the Law to be brought to the Temple as wood offering to be burnt at the altar
fires. So, burning it is purely to get
rid of it.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Make your home in
me as I make mine in you.
Whoever remains
in me bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
Gospel
The
Lord be with you.
All: And with your spirit.
A
Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John
All: Glory to you O Lord
(Jn 15: 1-8)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my
Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch that bears no
fruit he cuts away,
And every branch that does
bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.
You are pruned already, because of the
word I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I
make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear
fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you
remain in me.
I am the true vine, you are
the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with
me in him, bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can
do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain
in me
is like a branch that has
been thrown away – he withers;
these branches are collected
and thrown on the fire, and they are burnt.
If you remain in me and my
words remain in you,
you may ask what you will
and you shall get it.
It is to the glory of my
Father that you should bear much fruit,
and then you will be my disciples.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Discussion
Do any of you have fruits? Discuss the gifts that each child has. It will be good to get them to share
one. We are not talking necessarily
about talents here. A loving disposition
is also a gift.
Discuss how we each get these gifts. Link them back to God as the source of gifts.
What do we do with the gifts that God gives us? It is like the vine: the fruit of the vine branch is put to good
use. Otherwise, the branch is taken away
and burnt.
Notice that the branch will continue to bear fruit as
long as it is attached to the vine.
Why? What does the branch get
from the vine to bear the fruit? Nutrients
such as water, minerals from the ground, fertiliser, etc. Discuss what we need from God for our gifts
to grow. Emphasise the fact that the
link with God is all-important. Just as
a hand cannot do the work of a hand if it is detached from the body, a vine
cannot produce grapes if it is detached from the branches.
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