{"id":2829,"date":"2018-04-26T10:40:11","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T10:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=2829"},"modified":"2018-04-26T10:40:11","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T10:40:11","slug":"the-fifth-sunday-of-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2018\/04\/26\/the-fifth-sunday-of-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fifth Sunday of Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Sunday Liturgy Commentary<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The 5th Sunday of Easter \u2013 29th<\/sup> April 2018<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lectionary readings: Acts 9:26-31; Ps. 22:26-28, 30-32; 1 John. 3:18-24; John 15:1-8<\/em><\/p>\n

Theme:\u00a0 Abiding in Jesus, abiding in love<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Download<\/a><\/p>\n

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T<\/em><\/strong>he Gospel for this Sunday provides us with an image-metaphor of the vine and the branches, an image used in the Hebrew Scriptures. We can find the image of the vineyard in the Hebrew Scriptures like in Isaiah 5:1-7 and Psalm 80 which appeals to God to save the \u201cvine which Your right hand has planted.\u201d Taken together, this image paints the intimacy between the vine grower, God and his people despite the difficulty. We can notice that with the image of the vine, the text shifts into the word \u201cremain\u201d or \u201cabide\u201d which appears seven times. Jesus might be stating a simple truth: that not to abide in him means to wither and not bear fruit. To abide in Jesus is a matter of life and death, bearing fruit or not at all. What does it mean to abide?<\/p>\n

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Here it is curious that the reading does not proceed with verse nine until 10 which might be the key to understanding what does it mean to abide in Jesus? In verse nine it says, \u201cAs the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love\u201d (Jn 15:9). To abide in Jesus, is to love. In love we find life. Love allows us, creatures which should not be and yet are, to exist, to love and bear fruit. This energy from God who out of his gratuitous and relentless love makes those who abide in him bear much fruit.<\/p>\n

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This reminds us of the Shema,<\/em> when we hear the words \u201cv\u2019ahavta et Adonai Elohecha b\u2019chol l\u2019vav\u2019cha uv\u2019chol nafsh\u2019cha uv\u2019chol m\u2019odecha<\/em>\u201d (You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.) Rabbi Jonathan Sacks also mentions that Torah reveals to us this abiding love of God when he said, \u201cSomething implicit in the Torah from the very beginning becomes explicit in the book of Devarim. God is the God of love. More than we love Him, He loves us. \u2018If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love [et ha-brit ve-et ha-chessed<\/em>] with you, as he swore to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers (Deut 7: 12-13)\u2019.\u201d Torah is about love and this love abides in us if keep the Torah. In the beautiful book of Psalms, we find God\u2019s abiding love when the Psalmist proclaims, \u201cO give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his chesed <\/em>steadfast love endures forever\u201d (Ps 136:1). His love forever abides in us. His love abides in us, then we bear fruit. It is not that we first bear fruit for his love to abide in us. His love is a first love, as Henri Nouwen says. His is a love that abides even before the bearing of fruit. It is because of that abiding that we are able to bear fruit.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0It is no wonder to see this passage in our celebration of Easter. In our celebration Easter we celebrate the love that abides with us even beyond death. A love that abides that defeats sin. Our world is now radically shifting. We notice a radical disillusionment to stay, to remain, to abide especially in our human relationships, more so when our relationships do not seem to \u201cbear fruit.\u201d We have become too impatient to abide and remain in love with persons who are particularly difficult to love. Jesus gives us a sure sign that to flourish, we must abide in him. Because he abides in us. This Love which abides, is the love that bears fruit. If we abide in Jesus, we are not only abiding in him and he in us, we are now empowered to also love and abide in others, with others, especially our neighbors who are in need, the poor, the needy, the stranger.<\/p>\n

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For Reflection and Discussion<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> [1<\/strong>] How do we feel God\u2019s constant abiding presence in our lives?<\/strong>\u00a0 [2] What makes it difficult for us to stay and abide in and with others? <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Bibliography<\/em><\/strong>: <\/em><\/strong>Jonathan Sacks, \u201cThe Morality of Love\u201d August 6, 2012<\/em> http:\/\/rabbisacks.org\/covenant-conversation-5772-ekev-the-morality-of-love\/<\/a> (Accessed April 19, 2018).<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s teaching commentary was prepared by<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

John Paul A. Bolano, MA, Philippines, Bat Kol 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Email address: jbolano@ateneo.edu<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>[Copyright \u00a9 2018]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE<\/em><\/strong>: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.\u00a0 Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1983-2018<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mail to:<\/em><\/strong> gill@batkol.info; Website:<\/em> <\/strong>www.batkol.info<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Sunday Liturgy Commentary The 5th Sunday of Easter \u2013 29th April 2018 Lectionary readings: Acts 9:26-31; Ps. 22:26-28, 30-32; 1 John. 3:18-24; John 15:1-8 Theme:\u00a0 Abiding in Jesus, abiding in love \u00a0 Download \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 The Gospel for this Sunday provides us with an image-metaphor of the vine and the branches, an image used…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":2822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}