Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: May 02, 2021
Our Gospel this weekend (Jn 15:1-8) recounts Jesus’ famous analogy of The Vine and The Branches. In fact, He made it a personal thing for Him and for us, since what He said was, “I am the vine and you are the branches” (v. 5a).
This Biblical passage has always been a favorite of mine. In fact, it was read at my priestly ordination way back in 1979. Now this year it will be read on the day that five of our youngest parishioners receive their First Holy Communion. I can only hope that Lillian Barilleau, Heath Kocen, Trace Levy, Johnny Moffett, and Meredith Neubauer come to think of it as one of their favorites too. Let me explain why.
The main point Jesus was making was that we have to stay connected to Him: we have to “stay rooted” in Him, as it were. Doing so brings a certain amount of stability and security, for His love is constant, His wisdom is supreme, and so His grace always more than enough to sustain and guide us.
After all, life is full of precarious moments. We have lots of choices to make, and as fate would have it lots of things we don’t choose also impact us greatly. Opportunities come by that we never dreamed of, but we also learn – usually the hard way – that dreams and wishes are fantasies, and not to be mistaken for real things. Even though we make the best plans we can, we still can’t foresee the future. So most of life is spent in making adjustments, learning from what happens and then using our hearts and brains to choose as wisely as we can.
Looking back it sometimes amazes me that my life has been so full. When I was young I wanted to make friends and experience as much of life as I could, of course. When I was in school I tried to learn as much as possible. I tried to excel in my priestly work, so that it would practical and effective – especially in good liturgical celebration, effective teaching, and in organization of priorities and projects. Even recreation has not been so much wasted time but rather an exploration of God’s good gifts, by travel and discovery (and, yes, by eating!). I haven’t been successful all the time, and I’ve experienced the whole range of emotions throughout, from failure to success, from tears of sadness and frustration and repentance through to tears of joy. Throughout, however, one constant – contact with the Lord Jesus in prayer and love, like the branch on a vine – has been enough to nourish and sustain me. Sound familiar? I hope your personal story is a lot like mine.
That’s what I now hope and pray for our little ones receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist for the first time this weekend. Their lives too will be full of both successes and trials. They will know triumph and heartache, blessings and sin. They will live life to the full and like us all still inevitably face death. May the fact that they are “connected” with Christ in faith, and can even take Him into themselves in Holy Communion, help them find His strength. Having a real relationship with Christ magnifies joys and eases burdens, and ultimately saves us forever. There is no more precious a gift than being joined to the Lord, and that’s what receiving Eucharist is, in essence. May they too, in time, realize how lucky they are! Pray for them!
Sincerely yours,
Father Paul Counce
