Deacon Steve's Homily - Being Connected to Jesus - Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

On this 5^th Sunday of Easter we come together to worship God and to thank God for the gift of his Son, Jesus.  And we are here to pray together and to feed our souls with Jesus. Our readings this weekend remind us of the importance of being connected to Jesus.  As I reflected on this theme of ‘being connected’, I thought about how we communicate today. In the past century the world has become a much smaller place, and the ability to communicate is nearly instantaneous. We have radio and television. We have cell phones and smart phones. We have computers and the internet.We have email, texting, skyping, facebook and twitter. These work because we have telephone lines, cell phone towers, satellite dishes, wi-fi, and hot spots that help us stay connected with each other wherever we are. With technology we can stay connected with people who are close by or half way around the world.

A few weeks ago, Fr. Vince led a group of parishioners on a pilgrimage to Italy. This is not the first time that he has led pilgrimages, but on this one Fr. Vince used Twitter a lot. Fr. Vince ‘tweeted’ pictures and his thoughts along the way. I followed Fr. Vince’s ‘tweets’, and, although I wasn’t on the trip, I felt, as though, I was connected with him and the others. Here they were, 6 time zones ahead of us, and they were able to stay connected with all of us through technology.  Staying connected is really important.  When we are connected, we don’t feel isolated, and we are able to be part of something much bigger than ourselves. 

Jesus had over 100 names attributed to him in the scriptures. In last week’s gospel, Jesus was called the ‘Good Shepherd.  In today’s gospel reading from John, we hear another name for Jesus. This week Jesus is called the true ‘Vine.’ Jesus says: “I am the vine, you are the branches. ”The relationship that we should have with Jesus is compared to the branch of a vine.  While the vine takes its nourishment from the ground, the branches receive their food and water from the vine.  The vine is the source from which the branches receive their living water. And that’s what gives them life and makes them bloom.  If the living water was to be cut off from the branches, they would dry up and die. My friends, Jesus is telling his disciples and us that in order to live, in order to have a fruitful abundant life, one must be connected to Jesus himself. When we are connected to Jesus, we can do things that might surprise us.

We just read Jesus words: “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” Like the branch that produces an abundance of grapes, we can do much good for God’s kingdom here on earth.  We can praise God in our daily living, especially here at Mass. We can help others, especially the poor and the needy.  We can say “No!’ to the evils around us. We can speak up for the truths that we Catholics believe. But, when we’re not connected to Jesus and our relationship with God is strained, we are limited, and we’re not as fruitful as we can or should be.

My friends, we need to stay connected to Jesus.  How do we do that? Here are some of my thoughts: We stay connected when we take our faith and our relationship with God seriously. When we listen to and follow mother Church. When we read and reflect on God’s word in sacred scripture. We stay connected when we follow the 2 great commandments. When we love God with all our mind, with all our heart, and will our soul. And when we love our neighbor as ourself.

We stay connected when pray and when we spend time with Jesus in the adoration chapel - please consider being an adorer on Wednesdays and First Fridays. We stay

connected when we go to mass regularly and when we receive our Lord in Holy Communion. Last weekend over 100 children of our parish received their 1^st Holy Communion.   Our prayer for them is that they always hunger for Jesus and connect with Him in this holy sacrament for the rest of their lives. Just prior to 1^st Communion, 88 of our youth were confirmed by Archbishop Tobin at the Cathedral. Our prayer for them is that they will remain steadfast in their faith and realize the importance of staying connected to Jesus. What a blessing it was to witness these events. 

In just a few short minutes we will approach the altar to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. As we do so, let’s imagine that this is our 1^st Holy Communion. Let’s receive Jesus with the same reverence, the same wonder and awe that our first communicants did last week. May we remember that Jesus is the true vine that feeds us, the branches.  And being connected to Jesus gives us great joy and leads to everlasting life. God bless you all!