Jn. 15:1-8
Mr Phim was a Nepalese citizen. It was the time of the Nepalese civil war. He had significant losses in the war. The army murdered his elder brother. His aunt was raped brutally and killed by the soldiers. His heart was filled with hatred towards the Nepalese army. He joined the Western Nepal Maoist army to take revenge on the Nepalese army. He participated in many operations against them. Finally, he became the commander of the Maoist militant group and killed several soldiers. Once during an operation, he was seriously wounded. He was caught by the army while seeking medical treatment. They put him in the underground well for seven months. He did not see even a single ray of sunlight for seven months. Later on, he was shifted to solitary confinement. At that time, initiated the peace talks between the Nepalese Army and Maoists. Both the groups signed the peace treaty after a while. As a result, Phim was freed from imprisonment. He abandoned all his tie-up with the Maoist group because of the insistence of his family members.
Once, he attended a gospel service programme along with his companion. He felt that the Word of God piercing his heart during that programme. He cried out: “God save me.” Slowly he started to experience healing from his inner wounds, and he could forgive his enemies. He encaged a deep friendship with Jesus and underwent a personal transformation. Later on, he became a powerful instrument of Jesus. He was invited to Maoist army quarters to preach about Christ. His colleagues told him: “We want you to help us travel this same road in life that you are travelling on now.” When we abide in Jesus and dependent on his grace, we will produce abundant fruit…
The tendency to become independent and self-sufficient is common nowadays. We cannot judge this attitude as something negative. Therefore, all are trying to be equipped as much as they can to be independent and not rely on anyone to realize their dreams and projects. This mentality to be independent should be balanced by our ability to be interdependent with others. Otherwise, we can be self-centred and individualistic. We could see a complete departure from this notion of being independent and self-sufficient when we try to understand the Christian discipleship. One of the major themes of John 15 is an invitation to abide in Jesus. Jesus uses the analogy of vine and branches to explain a disciple’s intimate relationship with him.
Jesus was sent by Father to fulfill the mission of universal salvation, not by relying on his own strength instead of relying on Abba Father’s power. The prayer moments of Jesus that we observe in the gospel such as early in the morning and late in the night, were signs of dependence on His Father. He tried to discern his Father’s will and sought his grace and strength to fulfill the mission entrusted to him. Similarly, every disciple is called and commissioned by Jesus to send him/her for a specific mission of witnessing the gospel uniquely in their own life situations. His mission of witnessing the gospel is not limited to priests and religious. All those who are baptized to be his witness are bound to fulfill this obligation to be with him and sent out to the world as his witness. Therefore, we too are invited to imitate the example of Jesus; how he depended on his Father similarly, we too should rely on Christ through our personal moments of encounter to discern his will by tuning our ears to listen to him and his assistance fulfill it in our lives.
Our dependence on Christ should be like the vine branches’ dependency on the main stem for its nourishment and growth. If the branches are not connected to the main stem, they can’t absorb the nutrients. As a result, the branch can’t prepare food and sustain itself. The remaining solution is to cut and throw away the branch. When we lose our connectivity with Jesus, we too become useless, or people do not produce fruits. It can happen that when we pass through this spiritual dryness, we should allow the grace of God to work in us. We should be open to the grace of God by allowing the grace to prune our lives by recognizing the factors that hinder us from relying on Jesus than focusing on our own strength. The dried branch of the vine is lost forever, but we always have second chances. The moment we get back to Jesus and abide in his grace, we become fruitful again. As we pass through the second phase of this pandemic times. Let us deepen our closeness with Jesus so that we may become his branches reaching out to our fellow brethren with his kindness and graces; thus, we bear fruit abundantly.