THE ETERNAL ‘NOW’ OF CHRIST

For those who have visited ‘The Holy Land’, amongst the many memories and experiences, they should remember something peculiar when having breakfast, lunch or dinner. Do you recall the fact that bunches of ‘grapes’ were served with every meal, including breakfast? At least it was like that on the three occasions I visited Israel.

You can see ‘vineyards’ wherever you find a patch of soil. Yet the vine is very particular, it will not flourish unless it has very clean and healthy soil, besides it needs pruning continually. The farmer keeps it under check for three whole years, until it will be time to bear fruit. Jesus knew much more than I about vines, as did all other Jews. So He did use the vine to send a message to His followers.

The dry wood of the vine cannot be used for anything, unlike other trees. Once the dry branch is pruned, it will be thrown into the fire for burning. Any branch of the vine must be joined to the main one, otherwise it will die. It was a perfect example the famous Rabbi, Christ could mention. If  His followers are not regularly ‘pruned’, they might end of being cast away into fire.

Jesus had in mind His Mystical Body. What is the Mystical Body? Actually it is difficult to explain and to understand. THIS union with Christ gives us a ‘dignity’, not the worldly dignity of the social strata, ‘a spiritual dignity’. We do not become God, we do remain human beings, but we are not talking about the physical aspect. I remain Tony, with the same personality, I retain my free will to choose, to refuse and to accept. I remain responsible for my doings, my words and deeds.

But, on a spiritual level I will be ‘one’ with Christ to the extent that my ‘unity’ will be stronger ... for lack of a better word ... than when I was united to my mother in her womb. The same with Jesus, He will be one with me more than when He was with His mother Mary, when still in her womb. That is the example Jesus tried to pass on to His followers when he mentioned the vine. It is more than ‘one-ness’, it is total integrity.

But this happens in the ‘supernatural order’. Man can, may live two ‘lives’; the natural and the supernatural. This is the essence of the Mystical Body. This state is not conditioned by neither ‘time’ nor even by ‘space’. For this reason Christ could have suffered and died for me, one thousand, nine hundred and thirty five years before even I was conceived. And that applies to all humanity, to all of every age and era.

Christ embraced in His loving arms all humanity, when He was in the Temple of His mother’s womb; when He was in His father’s shop in Nazareth; along the side-roads of Galilee; when He was on the Cross; even now, in Heaven in the glory of His Father. He still embraces us all and together with Him we form the Mystical Body, the Vine.