HOMILY for April 29, 2018: 5th Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

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5^thSunday of Easter – Cycle B

St. Mark, Fallston / Our Lady of Grace

April 29, 2018

Remaining in Christ 

(Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

 

Air Dancers

They are called Air Dancers or Sky Puppets. If you know what I’m referring to, please raise your hand? (Note response or lack of response.)

You may not know their name, but I’m sure we’re all familiar with the inflatables that are a long yellow tube with arms and a face, and when connected to a blower, they writhe up and down, hands waving frantically, getting your attention to purchase something or tell you of an important event. They are called Air Dancers or Sky Puppets.

And they seem to be everywhere! Car dealers, new Royal Farms stores, car washes. 

Three things about these inflatables:

Ø  They need to be connected to a source of air like a blower

Ø  They need to be constructed in such a way as to have them move when air is pumped into them 

Ø  They need to have an impact on passersby to motivate them to purchase, join, or attend something.

And, as long as they are connected, and the air flows, they can do their job. Cut off the air supply, however, and they deflate and collapse.

Vine and Branches

Jesus had a way of taking the ordinary things in the experience of the people of his day and drawing from them lessons for living more caring, loving lives. 

Ordinary things in peoples’ experience became the means for getting his listeners to understand God’s Spirit in them and his call to them to become faithful followers. 

In today’s Gospel, because he’s talking to farmers and wine producers, he uses the example of the vine and the branches to get traction and more importantly to connect himself to them. 

Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.”  This image speaks effectively to them of the connection between Jesus and them, and today to Jesus and us.  

His point is that you and I are connected to him, like the branches with the vine, or as I will hold, the Air Dancer with the electric blower, and we need to stay connected to have life.  

This is why the passage keeps using the word “remain”and why Jesus himself says: “Remain in me, and I remain in you.”The idea is that our connection with Jesus is somewhat dependent on us.  We need to choose to “remain”in him.

Recall what I said about the Air Dancer

Ø  They need to be connected to a source of air(Demonstrate)

Ø  They need to be constructed in such a way as to have them move when air is pumped in(Bend over, stand tall, wave arms; bend over, stand tall, wave arms)

Ø  They need to have an impact on passersby to move them to purchase, join, or attend something (Demonstrate using hands)

Of these three, the last two — how they’re constructed and their effectiveness in moving passersby to action — are already in place. 

It’s the first item that is clearly critical, namely, being connected to the source of air. 

It is for this reason that remain — as in “remain in me”— appears twice in the second reading and 8 times in the Gospel. “Remain, remain, remain in me”and you are built to respond and you can count on success in drawing others to me.  

 

How to “Remain”

So, what do we have to do to “remain” in Jesus? What do we have to do to keep the supply of air flowing through us and attracting others to Christ? In short, how can we be effective Air Dancers! 

I have learned from personal experience that the more time I spend in silence and reflection, the more patient, the more understanding, the more respectful of others’ differences I become. Yes, simply sitting in silence 5 or 10 minutes a day can settle you down and open you up to allow God to move through you.

I’m not talking about the recitation of prayers or doing a lot of thinking or meditating. They both have their place. 

I’m talking about calming and relaxing yourself so you can be open and vulnerable for new insights to surface, new levels of air to fill you and flow through you.

And a second and very effective way of “remaining” in Jesus comes in celebrating the Eucharist each Sunday. Here we gather around the table and feast on the very flesh and blood of the Lord himself.

And the “remaining in him”that takes place is that we actually, physically and spiritually become with we have eaten.

Prayer and Eucharist, participate in both of those and you not only remain in, you actually become one with the Lord!

Results of Remaining

As I have stated with the Air Dancer, when it is ready to receive the full presence of moving, flowing air, it can become the effective instrument for which it was created…

Jesus again spells it out in his analogy of the vine and branches: “Whoever remains in me and I in them will bear much fruit, for apart from me you will do nothing.”

The “much fruit” that we will bear will be a compelling presence of love and compassion, forgiveness and support to all who see us. 

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Yes, we are all called to be Air Dancers! Let each Air Dancer we see in the future — whether it be a tall yellow tube or a believing Christian — be a reminder of that call and a moment of personal rededication!