Easter Sunday 5 B / John 15.1-8 (06 May 2012)

The parable of today is very clear: in order to succeed with Christian Life
we have to stay connected with Jesus Christ
(whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty).
The parable assumes a) Jesus is a source of energy
                                 b) we are already united with Jesus Christ (Baptism)
                                 c) to keep united means bear fruits / Glory of God!
But now the strong question: in our daily situation, in our journey -
how do we keep connection with a dead person?

First answer: Human beings have a memory-box, a storing-room, and from
there by intra-personal re-animation we bring once spoken words, past
deeds, pictures from dead persons into our consciousness. That's a good
and most healthy way to activate constructivelly the past;
don't forget to unite with your past friends.
But this is not yet resurrection; this is a memorial-service.
We have put the wrong question: connect with a dead person!

We go deeper: After Easter we have to put the stronger question:
How to keep connection with the risen Lord? It's clear:
after Easter, after Baptism, we are not looking at Jesus
as a dead man, we see him as alive in his Community
(we are not blind anymore; we decide he is alive before we understand
how he is alive; we are looking after him not in the graveyard!)
Jesus himself has shown us the way: The first step: "Do this in memory
of me". Yes - the Last-Supper is first a memorial-service.
We listen to the past words of the Bible - but now, as we listen,
we accept these words as the "Word of God", given to us now and here,
given to us through the Community - named "the Body of Christ".
The bread is given into our hands - but we accept it now and here
as the "Body of Christ, the risen Lord", changing all who acccept
into the one Body of Christ of our time! (the Church).
The Eucharistic memorial-service became a mutual re-incorporation-act.
The baptised people become able to share bread, to heal wounds,
enjoy life, engage with peace, to unite and to transcend etc...

I see now three ways to keep the connection with the risen Lord:
A) keep daily a memorial-service; meditate his words and deeds...
B) perform weekly as a Community the re-incorporation-act (Eucharist)...
C) celebrate every year the feasts and the sacraments...
    discovering: life is a feast!