6th Easter Sunday

 "I no longer call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for I have made known to you all that I have heard from my Father. "

Lectio

John 15:9-17

- friend

1. 'a person in close, cordial relations with someone'.

2. "a person showing affection to someone or something, favouring something".

- servant "one who takes care of someone's house, farm and is paid for it"

- servant

1. 'to act in the interest of something or for the benefit of someone'

2. 'to be used'

3. "to be useful to someone in something"

4. formerly "to work in someone's house, doing cleaning, helping with household chores, etc., receiving remuneration for doing so"

Meditatio

- Christ makes the servant-friend distinction. He emphasises that the relationship he wants to build with his disciples is one of friendship. It is, on the one hand, a form of ennoblement, but on the other, an expression of the desire for closeness.

-Friendship is a relationship of love and trust. There is room for openness and the exchange of opinions and thoughts.

- What is my relationship with Jesus like? Am I closer to calling myself a friend or a servant?

Oratio

Lord Jesus. You called me friend long before I was born. You want to call me friend today too. I want to live my life basing it on love for you. On trusting in you. Bless these intentions of mine.

5th Easter Sunday

John 15:1-8

He who abides in Christ bears much fruit

- What does it mean to remain in Christ?

- What does it mean to bear much fruit?

In the Gospel, Jesus uses the image of the vine to show that in order to bear fruit, a plant must be connected to a root that nourishes it. 

To abide in Christ is to be immersed in the nourishment He provides, which can become the source of our "fruit-bearing".

- Fruit - something that will last from my life; something that will withstand the test of death.

- Fruit - not just any fruit, produced in Jesus.

Looking at the allegories of the vine, we might think of baptism as the moment of implantation - of union with the vine, with Christ. But being grafted in is by no means the same as abiding. 

For abiding to be effective, there is a need for nourishment and care, expressed first of all in receiving nourishment - the Eucharist, but also in the care of rejecting unhealthy and undesirable elements - the sacrament of Penance.

Confirmation is still to come. It is also a special moment in the building of this relationship called perseverance.

But even that is not enough. Perseverance is more than a few 'point' events. Abiding is in a sense infinite. It is a dynamic process, a kind of ossification.

By way of introduction and explanation

 As usual, I have a problem with regularity. I seem to remember that this is a blog, and yet somehow I can't always find the self-discipline to sit down at the keyboard and write something new. 

To be honest, I suspect I won't have as much time to write as I did for a while after the accident, but you can try and do something about it.

I'm certainly not promising myself that I'll write every day. Firstly, I don't really have the time, and secondly - I realise that this blog has a mediocre reach, and I can't find the external motivation that comes from believing that I'm writing it for someone. So I write more for myself - to get my thoughts in order.

I have certainly decided to return to my notes on the Apophthegms - because reading them does not stop. From today, I will also try to present a new 'series', namely Reflections on the Word, that is, de facto - to sort out my sermon notes, the full form of which can be heard on Sundays in church or as part of a podcast. And that's about it. At least for now.