Like the smartphone that needs a battery to be useful, we need Christ for power
Last week, I had the opportunity to celebrate Mass at the chapel of the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, Western Australia, and the Gospel reading was from St. John’s Gospel 15:1-17, which I quote as follows:
Jesus the True Vine
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command you, to love one another.
John 15:1-17
This is one passage among the four Gospels I love to read and meditate on. It contains a lot of Jesus Christ’s deep feelings that He wants to share and convey to his beloved disciples. Of course, this includes those of us who have been baptised as Christians.
The entire passage can be viewed as a “love letter” or “will” that Jesus desired to give His disciples before He entered his Passion, which ended with His disgraceful crucifixion and death on the cross.
Anticipating this was going to happen and knowing that time was running out, Jesus seemed anxious on giving his last thoughts and admonishing his disciples with these golden words:
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5
What does Jesus have to do with smartphones?
During my homily at the Mass on Wednesday afternoon, I invited students and lay people to learn about a rather practical truth in our spiritual life, which Jesus himself made clear to all of us as He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I abide in him, he bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.”
I ask the students: Do you use smartphones, such as Samsung or iPhone? They replied: “Yes, Father.” So, I invited one of them to show me her iPhone 13 series, which is the latest model, and asked: “Can you tell me and your friends here, what your iPhone 13 can do for you? And what advanced features it has?
She stood up and happily shared with us the latest apps on her smartphone and said:
“This Iphone 13 is very smart and useful. You can use it to make phone calls and talk to people all over the world. You can use apps like Viber, Zalo, WhatsApp or Facetime to communicate and even can make video calls for free (that is, when you call and talk to your loved ones, you can see them and their surroundings).
“You can also use your iPhone to transfer money to relatives or friends or to pay bills, and especially to take pictures, record videos, scan documents and then email them to your family and friends. What’s more, this mobile phone can guide and direct you on what route to take when you are driving, especially to places where you have never been to. The Google Maps’ GPS system is convenient and accurate. I don’t have to look at a map and worry about getting lost.”
I listened to her sharing about the wonderful applications of smartphones, which most people around the world use today to the point that we cannot live and work efficiently without them. We all rely heavily on our mobile phones and we have them with us 24 hours a day. If you leave home without one, we can even say it is dangerous, because you won’t be able to contact anyone or send messages in an emergency.
After she finished telling us about what the wonderful apps of her new iPhone 13 could do, I gently asked her: but can you use that “amazing iPhone”, if it runs out of battery and you forget to recharge it? She looked at me, then smiled sadly and replied, “No, Father.” If my phone runs out of battery power, I cannot use it. My smartphone is dependent on the battery to work. Without power, it becomes useless, since it is not able to do anything.
Christ the Vine powers us to bear good fruits
I smiled, thanked her and said: “You are right, when the battery runs out, the mobile phone, no matter how advanced it is, becomes useless and impossible to use for anything it is designed to do.”
This is precisely at the heart of the matter that Jesus wants to convey to us, through the passage in John 15:1-17, because the Lord Himself affirms, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5).
Without a battery, the mobile phone couldn’t do what it is made for. Even the newest and most expensive ones become useless. The life of each of us Christians is the same. Without a close union with Jesus Christ, we too become useless and can do nothing, just like the branch must be united into the vine to survive. We need to draw life-giving energy from Christ the vine and then bear fruit.
This is the essential truth in the spiritual life of each one of us because without God we can’t do anything. So we need to abide in Him, like a branch needs to be united with the vine. Separated from the Vine, who is Christ, we the branches will wither, and eventually have to be thrown into the furnace to burn.
Jesus used this very real image to describe and help his disciples understand the mysterious truth in their spiritual lives. Jesus’ use of the image of a vine and a branch made it possible for his disciples and listeners in Palestine to understand and comprehend this sublime truth because in Israel everyone is familiar with it. So, it was easier for everyone to grasp and gladly receive this message from Jesus.
However, in our present time and the world that we live in, I use the image of a mobile phone to explain Jesus’ message in John 15 to my young University students, for them to understand this profound truth that Jesus reveals. This essential truth is that we need to be intimately united with God in our spiritual lives.
Read: Pope to Combonians: Without Jesus, we can do nothing
We are united to God in the Sacraments
Each one of us will be useless if we are not united with God through a life of prayer and diligent participation in the sacraments, the most important of which is still the Holy Eucharist we celebrate at Mass.
And through the Mass, God gives us an abundant source of grace so that each person can live their own “vocation” He has called them to be. The Catholic Church has always declared: “The Mass is the source of all graces and the summit of the Christian life.” (See Catechism of the Catholic Church’s “The Sacrament of the Eucharist”, Nos 1322-1418, Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and Pope John Paul II’s The Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church, Ecclesia de Eucharistia)
The new and modern mobile phone will not bring any benefit to the user if it runs out of battery. Likewise, for us, too, our lives will become futile and meaningless, if we are not truly in close union with God.
Since God is the source of all graces and our great treasure that we always want in our lives, then when we find it, we will be filled with authentic joy and experience inner peace. Happiness, then, will fill our hearts.
I invite you to ponder Jesus’ “love letter and will” He has given us John’s Gospel. Read it slowly and meditate on it (Jn 15:1-17), so that you may be able to draw out the wonderful insights for yourselves.
May God bless you all.
