Week 29 of the Church year
പെന്തിക്കോസ്തി പെരുന്നാൾ
Fifty days after Easter the Holy Spirit comes on the disciples in wind and fire. The Gospel for the Qurbana goes back to the Last Supper, where Jesus said: I am the vine, you are the branches.
In Acts, the Holy Spirit comes on the disciples like wind and tongues of fire, and they speak in languages every pilgrim can understand. In the Gospel, Jesus says he is the vine and they are the branches: remain in me and you will bear much fruit.
Pentecost is the fiftieth day after Easter, when the Spirit came on the Church. It ends the Easter season. The Church also keeps it as Sunday School Day.
A branch does not try hard to bear fruit. It stays connected to the vine. The Spirit is how we stay connected.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, the Spirit of truth.
A servant is not greater than his master; they hated me without a cause.
God puts his Spirit on seventy elders, and they prophesy.
God gives Saul a new heart, and the Spirit comes upon him.
Elisha strikes the Jordan with Elijah’s cloak: where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.
[NOTE: add once the reference is checked]
The Holy Spirit comes like wind and fire, and the apostles speak in many languages.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.
I am the vine, you are the branches; remain in me. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesGod puts his Spirit on seventy elders, and Saul is changed when the Spirit comes on him. Ezekiel promises a new heart and a new spirit. In Acts the promise is kept, and Galatians lists the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts away every branch that bears no fruit, and prunes every branch that does, so that it bears more.
Israel was often called God’s vine (Isaiah 5:1–7). Jesus calls himself the true one.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken. Remain in me, and I in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it stays on the vine.
The Greek word for “remain” (or “abide”) comes again and again in these verses. It is the key word of the passage.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
The fruit is not for the branch. Branches bear fruit for others to eat.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love by keeping my commandments. I tell you this so my joy may be in you and your joy may be full.
Jesus speaks of joy on the night of his betrayal, as in John 17.
This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than to lay down their life for their friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
Jesus calls his disciples friends, not servants (verse 15). Friendship with God is the fruit of the Spirit.
The verse to keep
“ഞാൻ മുന്തിരിവള്ളിയും നിങ്ങൾ കൊമ്പുകളും ആകുന്നു; ഒരുത്തൻ എന്നിലും ഞാൻ അവനിലും വസിക്കുന്നു എങ്കിൽ അവൻ വളരെ ഫലം കായ്ക്കും; എന്നെ പിരിഞ്ഞു നിങ്ങൾക്കു ഒന്നും ചെയ്വാൻ കഴികയില്ല.”“I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
The apostlesഅപ്പൊസ്തലന്മാർ
Gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit comes.
“Ones who are sent”
The pilgrimsയെരൂശലേമിൽ വന്ന ഭക്തന്മാർ
Jews from every nation, in Jerusalem for the feast, who hear the apostles in their own languages.
“—”
വൃക്ഷങ്ങളല്ല, കൊമ്പുകൾ
The Church reads two pictures today. In Acts, the Spirit comes like a rushing wind and tongues of fire, and frightened disciples become bold preachers. In the Gospel, Jesus gives a much quieter picture: a vine and its branches. Both are about the same thing. The life of the Church comes from outside itself.
A branch cut off from the vine may look fine for a day, but it is already dying. A branch that stays connected bears fruit without straining. Jesus says it bluntly: apart from me you can do nothing. The Spirit poured out at Pentecost is the sap that runs from the vine into us.
On Sunday School Day we think of the children and teachers who meet every week. What we most want for them is not that they know all the answers, but that they stay connected to Christ for life. That is the work of the Spirit, through prayer, the Qurbana and a Church that remains in him.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
What helps you stay connected to Jesus during the week? What tends to cut you off?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.Thank a Sunday School teacher this week, and ask the children what they are learning.
Come, Holy Spirit. Keep us joined to Christ the true vine, prune what is dead in us, and let us bear fruit that lasts: love, joy and peace in our home and our Church. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 1 of 18 in Pentecost