Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh
Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm này, Chúa Giêsu cho chúng ta biết là Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta sự sống thật, sự sống dồi dào được xuất phát từ nơi Thiên Chúa và cho thấy kết quả hoa trái tuyệt vời. Những người trồng nho phải biết tỉa những nhánh cây nho rất cẩn thận trước khi giàn nho có thể đơm bong kết trái và cho những chum nho tốt. Chúa Giêsu đã đùng hình ảnh giàn Nho để cho chúng ta thấy có hai loại nhánh trong cùng một cây Nho trong giàn: đó là những nhánh nho (hay là chỉ về những người) biết đơm hoa kết trái và những nhành nho xấu ăn hại (người) không làm cho hoa, trái mà còn ăn hại đất màu.
Những nhánh cây cằn cỗi phải được cắt tỉa cẩn thận, để bảo tồn chất dinh dưỡng và sức mạnh cho những nhánh cây còn lại để nó sinh hoa kết trái và trái của nó được tốt hơn. Chúa Giêsu đã dùng hình ảnh này để mô tả những  cuộc sống mà Ngài là cây Nho đã sản xuất trong những người đã biết hiệp nhất với Ngài, là kết quả của "sự công chính, bình an và hoan lạc trong Thánh Thần." Chúa Giêsu nói rằng chúng ta có thể sẽ không sinh ra được hoa trái trong cuộc sống của chúng ta nếu chúng ta không ở trong và lên một với Ngài.  Hoa Quả mà ngài đã nói chính là hoa quả của Chúa Thánh Thần.
Sự thật rất đơn giản ở đây: Chúng ta là một trong hai nhánh trong cùng một cây nho. Chúng ta có thể là những nhánh Nho cho hoa trái tốt tuơi, hay chúng ta có thể là những nhánh nho cằn cỗi chẳng bao giờ nở hoa và cho trái. Nhưng nhánh nho mang hoa trái khỏe mạnh, cần phải được cắt tỉa và chăm sóc luôn. Chúa Giêsu đã hứa rằng chúng ta sẽ sinh ra nhiều hoa trái, nếu chúng ta cứ ở trong Ngài và cho phép Ngài “cắt tiả” săn sóc và làm sạch chúng ta. Chúng ta hãy tin tưởng vào sự hiện diện vĩnh cửu của Chúa nơi chúng ta. Chúng ta hãy để Chúa Giêsu là người trồng nho chăm sóc chúng ta như người làm vườn chăm sóc dàn nho của họ, để cho Ngào săn sóc, cắt tỉa, và làm sạch chúng ta để hoa trái được phát sinh ra chúng ta. Hãy để Ngài thay đổi cuộc sống của chúng ta.      "Lạy Chúa, chúng con có thể làm một với Ngài trong tất cả những gì chúng con nói và làm. Xin đưa chúng con đến gần tới Chúa đê chúng con có thể tôn vinh Chúa luôn mãi vàn đơm hoa kết trái cho Nước Chúa."
 
Reflection SG. 2016
Jesus offers true life, the abundant life which comes from God and which results in great fruitfulness. The vinedresser must carefully prune the vine before it can bear good fruit. Vines characteristically have two kinds of branches: those which bear fruit and those which do not.
            The barren branches must be carefully pruned back in order for the vine to conserve its strength for bearing good fruit. Jesus used this image to describe the kind of life he produces in those who are united with him, the fruit of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Jesus says there can be no fruit in our lives apart from him. The fruit he speaks of is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
            There is a simple truth here: We are either fruit-bearing or non-fruit-bearing. There is no in-between. But the bearing of healthy fruit requires drastic pruning. The Lord promises that we will bear much fruit if we abide in him and allow him to purify us. Let us trust in the Lord's abiding presence with us? Let Jesus be our vinedresser, let him purify us for fruitfulness. Let him change our lives.
“Lord, may I be one with You in all that I say and do. Draw me close that I may glorify You and bear fruit for Your kingdom.”
 
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
“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.” John 15:5
The first amazing thing to recognize in this passage is the simple fact that God wants to produce good fruit in your life. He also wants to bring His grace and mercy into the world through you. The vine does not produce the fruit alone but does so through the instrumentality of the branches. So if we take this teaching at face value, God is saying that He has chosen to bring His grace and mercy into your life and into the world through you.
To add greater clarity to this holy mission that we have all been given, Jesus makes a very profound statement. He says “without me you can do nothing.” When considering this line spoken by our Lord, it may be useful to reflect upon what the word “nothing” means. Saint Augustine points out that Jesus added “you can do nothing” to emphasize the fact that, by ourselves, by our own effort, we cannot even produce a “little” good fruit. For example, it would be like cutting off a twig from an apple tree and hoping that the twig will produce an apple.
The fruit that God wants to produce also takes place within your soul, in the form of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. These fruits consist of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (See Galatians 5:22–23). Each one of these gifts from God will have the effect of transforming you more fully into an image of God Himself in our world. Try to take a moment to consider each one of those Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Each one is very desirable. Growing in a desire for them will help you grow in a desire for the Holy Spirit in your life.
When the Gospel passage quoted above is considered in its two parts, it is also clear that if we separate ourselves from God, then it is impossible to experience any one of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Without a firm connection to our God, we will have no love, no joy, no patience, kindness, etc. None of that is possible unless our lives are firmly connected to the Vine, Who is Christ Himself. So fostering a positive desire for these good fruits, as well as a holy fear of losing them, is useful.
Reflect, today, upon the beautiful and meaningful image given to us by Jesus of the vine and the branches. Think of a vine and then think of yourself firmly attached to that vine. Sit with that image prayerfully and let God speak to you. He wants to do great things in you and through you. If you will only cling to Him with all your heart, an abundance of good fruit will be produced.
Jesus the Vine, You are the source of all goodness, and, without You, I can do nothing. Help me to always remember how deeply I need You in my life and help me to cling to You always. Please bring forth an abundance of good fruit in my life and, through me, into the world. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are the vinedresser and know exactly how I need to be pruned. Cut away the stubbornness of my heart so that I may bear spiritual fruit for your Kingdom. Do not let me be separated through selfishness and sin from your Son, the true vine. I desire to glorify your name in all that I do.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Image of the Vine: In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not tell long, narrative parables as he does in the other three synoptic Gospels. But John does record Jesus using powerful images and comparisons that are a type of ancient parable. Today’s image-parable from John is that of a vine and its branches. God the Father is compared to the vine-grower, Jesus is compared to the vine, and we are compared to the branches of the vine. If we extend the parable, the Spirit is life-giving water that fills and flows through the vine and nourishes the branches so that they can produce good fruit. The image is used by Jesus to help us contemplate what our lives are like united to him and what they are like separate from him.
2. Trinitarian Vine-Dressing: We need to be pruned by the Father, to remain united to the Son, and to be vivified by the Spirit. The Father prunes us by permitting sufferings, tribulations, and temptations in our lives. He prunes us by inviting us to make a sacrificial offering of ourselves in union with his Son’s voluntary self-sacrifice. What does remaining and abiding in union with Jesus concretely look like in our lives? Are we united with him in our thinking? Do I think about others as Jesus did and does? How do I judge them? How do I welcome them? How do I listen to them? How do I forgive them? Do my words reflect those of Jesus?Concerning the life-giving Spirit, do I experience how the Spirit dwells in me as in a Temple and is like a river flowing in and through me? How is my mind nourished by the gift of faith? How is my will inspired by the gift of hope? How am I united more and more perfectly to the Lord through the gift of charity?
3. The Fruit of the Vine: At the end of today’s Gospel passage, Jesus affirms that we glorify the Father when we bear spiritual fruit and become his disciples. We can only bear lasting fruit and store up eternal treasure when we are empowered by the life-giving “sap” of divine grace. Healthy vines produce healthy grapes, which can then be crushed and fermented, and turned into wine. And wine, we know, can be transformed into the Eucharistic Blood of Christ, the Blood of the New Covenant. This image underscores how our good works and sacrifices can be transformed through union with Christ into pleasing sacrifices, acceptable to the Father.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I am comforted to know that from the early days of Christianity until the present, there have been and will be contentious debates and discussions. I pray that all the members of the Church may always be united to you, the true vine, and guided to all truth by the Holy Spirit. Do not let me be discouraged in times of confusion.
 
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Opening Prayer: Jesus, prune my heart with your holy word. Bless me as I hear and reflect on your parable. May your word pierce my heart like a sharp blade and move me to loving action as your disciple.
Encountering Christ:
Discipleship Instructions: Notice that this parable is addressed to Jesus’s disciples. These are instructions for fruitful discipleship. God has chosen us, his disciples today, to bear fruit. Jesus told his disciples, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you” (John 15:16). “Fruit that will remain” means spiritual fruits, such as the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and actions that express the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. Without prayer, worship, and Scripture reading, it is impossible to bear this kind of fruit. Jesus reminds us that we are totally dependent on remaining close to him in order to have a fruitful life: “Without me you can do nothing.” Additionally, remaining in Christ is a lifelong process. Christian disciples are not “born again,” once and done, but are constantly being filled with divine life by being connected to the life and love of the Holy Trinity each and every day.
The Word Prunes: Pruning is essential preparation for growing fruit. Imagine a grapevine that is overgrown with old or broken branches. Without pruning, it grows wild and only tiny grapes appear on the branches that do produce. God “prunes” his disciples through his word. God disciplines us when we read and reflect on his word daily. Notice how closely the word “discipline” is to “disciple.” To be a disciple is to be obedient. In Scripture, God reinforces our good actions and habits and patiently persuades us from our sinful actions and habits. St. Paul teaches us that “the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Imagine this sharp, two-edged sword gently pruning away the unfruitful parts of your life. We can ask ourselves if there is anything that is preventing us from bearing fruit. Do we spend too much time on social media, scrolling through the news, connected to our smartphones, or watching television? Do we have other habits that keep us from loving others well, such as not getting enough sleep so we are grumpy and disagreeable?
God’s Love Grows Fruit: God’s love is the energy for discipleship. It produces the fruit attached to the vine. The love of God comes through Christ the Vine and enters into our hearts, which we then pour out for others. You might think of the Holy Spirit as the essence of God’s love. Consider this passage in conjunction with the parable of the vine: “...the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). Imagine the love of God being poured into the Holy Spirit, like a river of living water (John 7:37) flowing through Christ the Vine and into our hearts (the branches), which are attached to Christ’s. This is how the love of God flows to us. It is the life and love of the Holy Trinity itself flowing into our hearts. How can we not love and serve God with confidence? The last line of the parable gives it its meaning: “This I command you, love one another” (John 15:17). We can only love others if we have the love of God flowing to us through Christ: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, your Sacred Heart is the true vine, and my human heart is a branch. Send your Holy Spirit of living water to quench my heart with your love. Your love that is like fire and passionate is also like water, refreshing and life-sustaining. Without earthly water, I would die. Without living water, I would also perish. Fill me with your love and help me pour it out to others in fruitful discipleship.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I ask you to prune me by gently taking away the things that are hindering me from bearing everlasting fruit for you.