A Reflection--Vine and Branches (John 15:1-8)

"I am the vine, you are the branches." John 15:5

The Gospel reading for the Mass on Wednesday, April 23rd was John 15:1-8. When the deacon proclaimed this passage and our pastor commented on it, two sentences struck me: "I am the true vine, my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit."

As an amateur gardener I've learned early on that many plants are much more productive when they are pruned--some won't produce flowers or fruit if they aren't pruned. Though plants are a lower form of life and I suspect they do not experience pain as animals and humans do; I do believe they experience some sort of stimulus when they are pruned.

Reflecting on what Jesus is stating above, I pondered we all have crosses to bear in our life. May these "crosses" provide an opportunity for a gift of pruning by our loving "Vine Grower", The Father, so that we don't get all tangled up in the "unimportant" and be fruitless; but rather adhere in a closer bond with His Son, "The Vine", so that we produce the fruit we are on this earth to produce?

A Reflection

'"Blind" faith, after all, is a curious gift to the creator of human intelligence.' John J. Pilch*

"The Age of Reason" or "The Enlightenment" did usher in another way of looking at life. Unfortunately this period also disposed of the importance of faith and religion. Our late pope, Pope John Paul II, emphasized that true science and true religion do not, cannot, conflict with each other but rather complement each other. In the same light our present pope, Pope Benedict XVI, noted that true faith and reason complement each other. These points are something that many of us appear to have lost, we see them as "either-or" rather than "and-also". I'm afraid many of us idolize science and scientific knowledge forgetting the real role of science and not recognizing that science and faith (and therefore religion) serve two different roles in our human journey.

The Austrian Catholic theologian, Christopher Cardinal Schoenborn wrote a 175 page book titled "Chance or Purpose?, Creation, Evolution, And A Rational Faith" published by Ignatius press in 2007. [Cardinal Schoenborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, was a student of Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI).] At the beginning of the book, Cardinal Schoenborn quotes than Cardinal Ratzinger: "The Christian idea of the world is that it originated in a very complicated process of evolution, but that it nevertheless still comes in its depth from the Logos. It thus bear reason itself."

It is important when reading this quote that we recognize that "Logos" is the Greek word used by the author in the beginning of the Gospel of Saint John. This word is translated in English as "Word". "In the beginning was the Word (i.e.,Logos)..." John 1:1 The Greek word "Logos" obviously conveys more than the English word "Word". My Random House Dictionary, 1980, provides the following definitions for "logos"--1. philosophy: "the rational principal that governs and develops the universe." 2. theology: "the divine word or reason incarnate in Jesus Christ."

Is it not logical therefore to conclude that God is reason? The bottom line, we cannot separate science/reason from faith/religion; to do so is a disservice to believer and nonbeliever alike. We must not be "the blind leading the blind".



*"The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday, Cycle A", page 75, by John J. Pilch, The Liturgical Press, 1995