5th Sunday of Easter Year B. By Tobe Eze

1.       Underline the bad, work towards eradicating it. If you leave it open, you may eradicate both good with it. Tobe Eze.

5th Sunday of Easter Year B.

FIRST READING
Acts 9:26—31

SECOND READING
1 John 3:18—24

GOSPEL
John 15:1—8

THEME: YOUR FRUIT CAN PROVE THEM WRONG.

Sometimes I like borrowing the words of my spiritual director Rev. Fr. Jude Nwodo, “Your conscience is clear is not enough, live it out. We may claim sometimes that our consciences are clean but to see the cleanness in our behaviours will be a difficult task and that puts a question mark to that clean conscience(s). In 2015, I went to a certain parish to deliver a talk to the youth during their youth week. When I reached there and the person who invited me introduced me to the President who can be my father in his age. He looked at me and said. Odogwu can you do this, what have you to offer? I felt ashamed but I told myself that, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). After the talk, he came back and asked me. How old are you? I told him, it is not necessary, that what is necessary is what you are made of. Since then he has been inviting to many places for talk. Continue Reading...........

The first reading presents us with the story of how Paul was rejected by the first believers for he was known for persecuting the first Christians. After his introduction and preaching, it was obvious that he has proven that he was really no more Saul but Paul. It is only the fruit that we bear that can speak more about us not what we tell people that we are. How do we live this Christian life? It is very difficult to live it. But the problem of living out this Christian calling is not normally that it is hard to live but what will follow it. Paul was smuggled out because of the words and actions of good Christian he lived. Senator Dino Melaye is suffering seriously now because he said the truth. He talked at length about the situation of the country.

The second reading started with these words, Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. Action speaks louder than voice is like national anthem to all of us but we still find it very difficult to do it. Faith, love, trust, truth and other Christian virtues are not meant to be expressed only by words of mouth but more through actions. Faith without good works is dead (James 2:14-16). We must bear fruit if we really are still attached to the Vine. A man in my village got converted, he started going to church and was devoted to every activity in the church. Any church’s program, he will attend it. He was very serious as a traditionalist as he is currently in Christianity. He was one of those that use to make music for masquerades, he endured that for the first three year and in the fourth year he said. Bia nu okwukwe ga akwusi ebea. This faith will stop here, I cannot continue to miss this. I am a Christian, let me go and use that music and praise Christ also. He continued with his going to church’s activities and also go for the masquerade’s music. He was just living the life of faith only on lips not in actions. He detached himself from the vine and many tribulations followed.

Cut of from me and you can do nothing (John 15:5). Lord, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life (John 6:68). If we cut of from him, where are we going to attach ourselves to? We can stick to him through our actions and also can cut of through our actions. We must as Christians abide in the Lord so that our actions will portray what we believe in. We may prove people who think that there is no longer a good man left wrong (Psalm 14:3).

In the story above, I was glorified through the fruit I yielded among the youths I met. It is not bad actions or evils alone that catch up with people who commit them, good deeds also catch up. As we bear fruit, we should bear also in mind that life is never a bed of roses, we will face many trials and temptations as Paul faced in the first reading. The reward for good work is more works. It is in the face of temptation that we can bear more fruit, fruit that will last. And after all the unfading crown of glory will be ours (1Peter5:4). THANKS AND HAPPY SUNDAY.