|
fifth Sunday of EASTER 2009
In year 2000 I was in Brazil helping to prepare for the Passionist General Chapter taking place there later that year. Afterwards I spent some time trying to appreciate something of that wonderfully vibrant church. Being part of such an enthusiastic Eucharistic community it was not long before a request came to go a small Catholic community to celebrate Mass and attend their sick. It would be a five hour journey there and five hours back. Before setting off with the driver and others who would accompany me, I showed something of my lack of understanding of the diversity of the Body of Christ by expressing concern about my lack of the Portuguese language in which the Mass would normally be celebrated. The priest organising my ‘mission’ smiled and remarked that when people have Mass only a few times per year the language in which the Liturgy is celebrated would be the least of their concerns. And so it turned out. I remember those devout, prayerful, singing, joyful and loving Catholics with great affection. They opened their hearts and their homes to me. It was dawn before I could leave their tiny settlement.
This story is not about me or indeed about that community; it is about the wonder and diversity of belonging to Christ the Vine as a branch. In our parish of St Joseph we have five Masses each weekend, all needed, and thanks be God for you who come so faithfully. But what about the branches of the Christ the Vine who only share in the celebration of the Eucharist a few times per year? They too are called to the same holiness and sanctity of life as we are. With a priest seldom there, the people assembled each week and the community leaders, a young man along with his wife and children, planned the weekly liturgy and saw that all was ready. I hope and pray that this branch of Christ the Vine is still thriving and growing. Some of you, gentle readers of this Bulletin, may come from communities where what I describe here is taken as normal.
For the next three days I’ll be at a meeting of English-speaking pastors from various European countries. As branches of Christ the Vine we will offer thanks for the care God is taking of us in our various parishes throughout Europe. It’s likely that all of us will bring a set of experiences to our gathering. What will unite us is that we are all branches of Christ the Vine and God is the vinedresser.
A danger for any branch of Christ the Vine is to slip into the illusion of thinking that we have it all and that there is no better way of being a branch than as we are now. To belong to Christ the Vine helps us to avoid this illusion. Travelling from parish to parish around the world preaching Passionist Missions, I have been saddened many times by the number of totally devoted church people who honestly believe that the way things are done in their parish is the only way acceptable to God. To suggest another way can trigger something of an identity crisis.
When we remember that the roots of the Vine are in God and not in us we receive freedom and freshness that avoids us becoming stuck in routine. If the Vine was an earthly plant then we could be certain of the shape and the outcome of our parish life. But the beauty of belonging to Christ the Vine is that the sap is the Holy Spirit who is full of surprises. Just when we think we have everything in place something happens – an active parishioner or whole family moves away or a much loved and cherished priest is transferred elsewhere – and the need arises to revise and adapt. That is what being part of Christ the Vine involves. It stops us from getting comfortable and calls us to newness of life and mission when we might rather remain as we are.
Aidan Troy (Aodahán, C.P.)
|
