Homily for 5th Sunday of Easter May 10, 2009
Today is Mother’s Day yet I’m going to speak about daddies. There was an old television show in the 50’s and 60’s that I loved called “Make Room for Daddy”. The show starred Danny Thomas as the patriarch of a typical American family. Danny was really portraying his own life story, balancing family, career and faith. It taught great lessons and provided plenty of laughs.
You see Danny’s real life story is a story of faith, and trust in God. Struggling with his professional career, he prayed to God, through St. Jude, to help him find his way in life and “I will build you a shrine.”
His career took off, his star was rising in Hollywood, his marriage was wonderful, together Danny and Rose Marie had 3 beautiful children.
Then it was time to make good on his promise to God. While all of us here today may not remember the show Make Room for Daddy everyone has heard of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tn. This hospital, perhaps the premier pediatric cancer research facility in the world, is the fulfillment of Danny Thomas’ promise to God. This was one Hollywood superstar who realized that, without God he could do nothing. With God, he could do anything.
Many of us in our own lives have come to realize this truth, without God, we can do nothing.
As people of faith, do we make room for daddy by remaining faithful to Him?
How does Jesus teach this lesson to those of us who hear His Gospel proclaimed today? He uses the image of the vine and the branches. Throughout Old Testament scripture Israel is portrayed as the vine. Now Jesus declares that He is the true vine. He is clearly telling the Jews of yesterday and all of us today, that it is not who we are or what we are that saves us, rather it is He alone who saves. And how is this accomplished? We must remain in Him, like branches on a vine, as He remains in us. This is the realization that we need faith in Jesus. And by remaining in Him, Jesus leads us to the Father.
And Jesus goes on to tell us that the branches must be pruned. Why? To bear much fruit, to produce good fruit. Many of the fruit bearing vines of that time required pruning twice a year. And then, good fruit would come forth. The branches that did not produce good fruit were cut away and destroyed.
Jesus clearly is telling us that His daddy, God our Father, wants us to bear good fruit, to remain in Him, and to be His disciple. For our part, Jesus is telling us to remain part of the vine. We must grow, like well pruned branches through prayer, the sacraments and loving obedience to God’s will. He wants us, by remaining in Him, to profess and practice our faith, to put our faith into action.
Remember what Jesus just said to us: “I am the vine, you are the branches”. We are the branches. What type of branch are we? Are we a branch that grows and prospers and accepts firm yet gentle pruning from God? Are we the branches that bear and produce much fruit; good fruit? Are we the branches that provide shade, sheltering those less fortunate from the searing heat of disappointment and despair? Are we the branches that lift skyward and support life? Are we the branches that stretch out in growth to love the Lord and one another? Or, are we the branches that grow wild that refuses the pruning from God? Are we the branches that wither and die?
And it is clear that to be good branches we must remain connected to Him, the true vine. To emphasize this, listen to the last sentence from the prayer the Priest says before Holy Communion: “keep me faithful to your teaching and never let me be parted from you.” And then we here in today’s Gospel: “Remain in me as I remain in you!”
We are called not necessarily to build a great hospital or an elaborate shrine. We are all called to bear good fruit. For starters, we can examine the depth of our prayer and worship. Do we just offer God our praise and thanks for 1 hour every week? Reflect this week how we can give God so much more, to bear good fruit and remain in Him. Do we truly know our faith? Can we commit to reading a section of the Catechism or a chapter of Scripture weekly or perhaps daily? And when we come to Mass, do we participate fully by listening to His Word, singing the hymns, receiving Him in Eucharist worthily and staying until Mass is over and the ministers have processed from the church?
These are little things we all can do, now, starting today. Jesus simply wants us to turn to the Father and realize that without Him we can nothing. Danny Thomas knew this. Today, thousands upon thousands of children have been treated and cured from a deadly disease. Danny Thomas heard the message of Jesus Christ; a message we all can embrace. Wendy and I met Danny Thomas in 1987 and I wish I would have known then what I know now. That everything Danny accomplished he credited to God. Danny was a well pruned branch bearing good fruit to the Glory of God, his daddy. Even on this beautiful Mother’s Day, may we always make room for daddy!
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