Following is the text of the meditation by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, for the  fifth Sunday of Easter, April 28, 2024:

 

Last Sunday the Word brought us across the parable of the Good Shepherd: we saw that the Shepherd is the one who cares so much for the members of his flock to the point of laying down his life for theirs.

 

We also saw that this life is saved as soon as it can get out of the fence in which sin had enclosed it, to go out to others, to the brothers and sisters, and to form with them one flock.

 

In today's Gospel passage, (John 15:1-8) Jesus uses another image, that of the vine grower, the vineyard, and the branches.

 

What strikes one upon first hearing it is the term "fruit," a term that recurs five times, (John 15:2,4,5,8) and this frequency highlights its importance: the farmer cares for the vineyard and knows how to prune it, but the purpose of this care is not so much the well-being of the plant as the fruit it is called to bear.

 

Not only that. But it is the fruit that will judge the actual rooting of the branches in the vine: if the fruit is not there, if the vine is barren, then it means that the branch is not attached to the vine, it means that the sap is not flowing.

 

It seems to me that the Gospel today touches on a profound dimension of our lives: for we all desire that our lives are not barren, but they bear fruit; we desire that our lives have meaning, have substance, that our lives do not end with us.

 

Well, when and how does this happen? And also: when and how does it not happen?

 

One key could be this: it is not only we who desire a beautiful and fruitful life. Along with us, and even before us, it is God himself who desires it.

 

God desires a good life for us, just as every father desires it for his children.

 

But it is not enough to desire it: life, to bear fruit, needs certain conditions, and help, which makes growth and fruitfulness possible.

 

And of these elements, the Gospel emphasizes some of them.

 

The first element is the one that revolves around the term "remain": a branch cannot bear fruit on its own, without a vineyard to make it live.

 

The first condition for a full life is to know that this life is not ours, that it is given to us, and we can only welcome it. The Christian life is not a growing up to the point of becoming independent, to the point of thinking we can make it on our own, without needing the help of others, the help of God.

 

It is exactly the opposite: the Christian life grows as much as we welcome God's life, as much as we are conscious that without Him, we can do nothing. (John 15:5)

 

It is then a matter of remaining in a life greater than ourselves, in the life of God.

 

And for this to happen, the way is to receive the Word, to remain in listening: for Jesus says that we remain in Him as much as His words remain in us. (John 15:7) If His Word is important and precious to us, like the word of a loved one, if we trust it, if we give it credibility, then we become one with Him: we have the same way of thinking, of seeing, of judging life.

 

Jesus adds that if we remain in Him, we can ask for anything. (John 15:7) What does this mean?

 

Perhaps it means that if we listen, if our lives remain in the Lord, then we discover what is truly worthy, what is that "thing" that makes us live.

 

We discover that we do not need everything, but only all that is good, for us and for others.

 

And we slowly learn to ask for that; that becomes our whole desire.

 

Everything else must be cut off, must be pruned. (John 15:2) And here we have the second element, of pruning: pruning is essential for a tree to bear fruit, and not anyone can do it. An inexperienced person can ruin the tree and prevent it from bearing good fruit.

 

For it to bear fruit, the vine does not need all the branches, but only the good ones: the others take away the sap, take away life, and must be cut off.

 

Well, to remain in life with the Lord, it is necessary to welcome His continuous care, which rids us of everything that dissipates our existence.

 

Many are the means He uses to bring us back to that purity of life (John 15:3) that is necessary to bear genuine fruit; but, again, the most effective is always the Word, which is like a double-edged sword, (Heb. 4:12) capable of separating what is true, authentic, pure precisely, from what is not and which, therefore, bears no fruit.

 

+ Pierbattista