Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Acts 15 : 1 – 6 / Ps. 121 : 1 – 5 / Jn. 15 : 1 – 8

The first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles narrates how the Church in its early days was put into division or two opposite extremes based on circumcision (Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved).  Back then, the Church grew rapidly with the conversion of many of the Jewish people both in Judea and Galilee as well as in the diaspora and not few of them came from among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

The Pharisees and the teachers as usual led by their beliefs and prejudices, argue and insist that the whole Church and all of the Lord’s believers should follow the full rigour of the Jewish laws and customs, as how they themselves had observed and enforced them.

We have all known or read from the Gospels, how Jesus Himself had often rebuked and criticised the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for their overly strict interpretation and observation of the Law of God. 

Brethren, the pharisees in idolising their own prejudices and preoccupations with the Law and how it ought to be observed and done, that they and the teachers of the Law had ended up separating themselves from the True Vine (God) who manifested Himself through His Son, Jesus, through Whom He wanted to make us know and understand all these things. Sometimes we are too are tempted to put limits on God, so we/you think that we/you cannot find favour with God unless we/you follow certain rules or rituals or long-standing customs.

So, Jesus says, “cut off from me you can do nothing”. Here he emphasizes the importance of a certain way of life, a life of love, but he suggests that even more important is our communion with him and his with us. His primary call is not to bear the fruit of love but to make our home in him, as he makes his home in us. As he has cultivated his communion with us, we are to cultivate our communion with him. It is this intimate relationship with the Lord that empowers our lives to bear the fruit of love. It is only in and through our communion with the Lord that we can come to love one another as he has loved us, and it is such a way of life that the pharisees and teachers of the law failed to exercise or exhibit in the interpretation of the law of Moses.

Let us all therefore be filled with zeal and faith anew, and be inspired to staying connected and true to our faith in the Lord, the one and only True Vine of all.

Rosary Prayer: Glorious Mysteries

Mass Intentions: We pray for Zenaida Orear for a safe and successful surgery. We also continue to pray for Theresa Aparece – Tobilla for a speedy recovery, Divine protection and emotional wellbeing for her caretakers.