This week's readings Week of May 18 - 24 Sunday, May 18, 2003 Reading I: Acts 9:26-31 Reading II: 1 Jn 3:18-24 Gospel: Jn 15:1-8 Monday, May 19, 2003 Reading I: Acts 14:5-18 Gospel: Jn 14:21-26 Tuesday, May 20, 2003 Reading I: Acts 14:19-28 Gospel: Jn 14:27-31a Wednesday, May 21, 2003 Reading I: Acts 15:1-6 Gospel: Jn 15:1-8 Thursday, May 22, 2003 Reading I: Acts 15:7-21 Gospel: Jn 15:9-11 Friday, May 23, 2003 Reading I: Acts 15:22-31 Gospel: Jn 15:12-17 Saturday, May 24, 2003 Reading I: Acts 16:1-10 Gospel: Jn 15:18-21 Pope's Prayer Intentions May General Intention Mary Mother of Life: That children in difficulty and their caretakers may find in Mary support and help. May Mission Intention The evangelization of Asia: That in the local Churches the Holy Spirit may kindle renewed ardor for evangelizing the entire continent.

Love not in word
or speech: But in deed and truth

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

In many ways we live in a culture that has some things backwards.

One example is the misbehavior of a recent former president which some people were willing to gloss over, while those same people at the same time were furious about the lies which were told to cover up the behavior. He was put on trial more for the lies than for the deeds they were meant to cover up - almost a technicality.

"Will you be a fruitful branch on the vine of Christ? Don't just talk about it - do something! Let Jesus become alive in all you say and do."

Another example is the enormous effort of love we as a culture expend on talking about the importance of education for our children, while time and again refusing to pay for that education and the quality schools in which it can take place by failing to pay teachers decently, by condemning any tax increases budgeted for education, and - many times - by neglecting our own proper role in the education of our children seriously.

And while we mourn the death of children terribly neglected or abused when we see it on the news - as we certainly should - we look the other way at the scandal of abortion in the land, we look the other way at the root causes of such neglect and abuse. Two or three children whose faces we can see take on an importance that the millions of aborted babies cannot move us to recognize.

Readings for Fifth Sunday of Easter (May 18, 2003) Acts 9:26-31 Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 1 John 3:18-24 John 15:1-8

We might sum all this up by saying that what a person says almost becomes more important than the deeds by which he shows his character, and by recognizing that merely talking about improvements in the community will fail when deeds and conviction are not there behind the words.

Jesus reminds us that if we are to be true disciples, we must remain like branches on the vine. From Jesus we receive our life and nourishment, the grace of God in our souls, and the courage of the Holy Spirit to live as true believers.

"Without me you can do nothing," says Jesus. Notice he does not say "without me you can say nothing" - for he knows that our mouths can run on easily with nothing to say that has his word in it. Instead he teaches us to let his word remain in us, and from that will flow deeds which will bear fruit in his name.

Love, then, is not merely talking about what it would be nice to do, but actually rolling up our sleeves and serving the needs of other people. Love means being willing to be criticized for doing what is right when some in the world disagree with what Jesus teaches. Love means doing something about the problem of declining education, about the conditions in our culture that permit abortion to exist, about the kind of behavior that leads to lies and ruin.

Where does that start? Right with me. Am I a branch on the vine of Christ, or have I allowed his love in me to wither and die? Am I bearing fruit for God's kingdom, fruit that will serve others in love, or am I self-serving, greedy, manipulative? Am I filled with the life of Christ flowing through me to others, or is my own welfare my only concern?

Our culture of "me first" and "grab what you want" must give way to the love of the Gospel. And just has Christ has won the victory over death, so will he win this victory - for he loves not only in word or speech but in deed and truth. Jesus followed up on his commitment to do his Father's will, and he teaches us to do the same.

Will you be a fruitful branch on the vine of Christ? Don't just talk about it - do something! Let Jesus become alive in all you say and do, so that the gift of love Jesus has given to you may bear fruit in the lives of others. Only in that way will the culture of life and the kingdom of God grow and spread - one believer at a time.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.