ABIDE: KEY TO IDENTITY, COMMUNION, & VOCATION

Reflections on the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Acts 9:26-31, 1 John 3:18-24, John 15:1-8

“I am the vine, you are the branches”. Jesus draws yet another simple image from Palestine's ordinary and daily life to reveal a profound mystery. Let’s contemplate this imagery from three angles/perspectives.

1. The Question of Identity:

The Gospel of John comprises Jesus’ seven ‘I am’ statements: I am the bread of life (6:35), the light of the world (8:12), the door (10:7), the good shepherd (10:11), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way, the truth, and the life (14:6), and finally, I am the vine (15:5). Each of these reveals the truth of his identity. The imagery of Jesus as the true vine and the Father as the vine grower teaches us that the identity of Jesus is not a self-proclaimed title but is given by his Father. In the Johannine gospel alone, Jesus uses the phrase “My Father” 34 times. He is the ‘true’ vine because he is the chosen one of God, because he remains in his Father’s love (15:10) and because he does his Father’s work (10:37).

Every disciple’s identity is rooted in this Father-Son relationship. He is the vine. His Father is the vine grower and we are his branches, structurally bound to him. A disconnected branch cannot bear life or produce fruits. Our identity is to be discovered in this mutual indwelling, “abide in me as I abide in you”. Our ‘binding’ does not enslave or oppress us but guarantees life, freedom, and joy. Our prayer, sacraments, and pious activities are all meant to help us strengthen us in this communion. Kahlil Gibran, in The Prophet writes, “But what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether? And it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space; it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart”.

2. The Gift of Community:

The vine is one but the branches are many. Our communion with Jesus also integrates us into a communion of branches. Just as a branch cannot choose where to grow or what other branches to grow with, we cannot choose our neighbours, family, or co-pilgrims. They are gifts to be received and nourished. Christian discipleship is a shared identity. The intimate union of the branches with each other and with the vine foreshadows the unity of Christ with the members of his body, and the solidarity that binds its various members in Christ. We testify to our rootedness in Christ by the witness of our unity.

Further, the co-branches that God chooses for us are diverse and unique. Each branch is different in its size and shape, in the number of leaves, etc., Similarly in the Church, ministries and missions vary. Whatever our state of life, position in the hierarchy, or ideological standpoint, we are one in Jesus, the vine. The co-branches are also diverse in other ways. Some bear fewer fruits and others more. Some need constant pruning and others not so much. Some take time to grow, while others grow fast. No matter our efficiency, it is the Father’s (vine grower’s) responsibility to prune the branches of his vine or to cut them off. It is not for us to decide the fate or judge the efficiency of our co-branches. How often do we take it upon ourselves to judge the faith journey of our co-branches?

3. Abiding in God's Call to Solidarity:

Jesus’ repeated call to abide in him echoes throughout the gospels. In the most difficult moment of his life in the Garden of Gethsemani, Jesus tells his disciples, “Stay here and keep watch with Me” (Matthew 24:37). The Emmaus disciples will turn this call into their prayer when they request their mysterious journey companion, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over” (Luke 24:28). This prayer has been immortalised in the popular hymn Abide with me, whose background is interesting. It is said to have been composed by Henry Francis Kyte (1793-1847), a Scottish Anglican cleric and poet. While visiting his dying friend William Augustus Le Hunte, Kyte heard him repeating the phrase “abide with me”.

After accompanying him in his final moments, Lyte composed the hymn to honour his memory and friendship. ‘Abide with me’ is the cry of Jesus in agony, the desperate prayer of the Emmaus disciples, and the dying wish of William. It continues to echo in our history. Abiding with our vine and our co-branches is a call to accompany all those in loneliness, bitterness, and need. Being rooted in our relationship with Christ and His Church means that we reach out to abide with those who need our accompaniment in their journey from despair to hope, confusion to clarity, sadness to joy, loneliness to communion, darkness to light, and death to life. May our identity as Christians defined by our communion with Christ and our interrelatedness with our co-branches, help us abide by the call to accompany each other in Christ.