Today's Gospel reading is about the vine and the branches in John 15/1-8]-. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches.
As I was listening to the reading I was struck by one verse. "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you" [Jn15/7]. Then I waited for the homily of the priest. He said that the verse is so soothing, so consoling.
The verse attracted me, awakened me, inspired me. "Ok, Now I can ask for whatever I want! Aha! There are certain things I would really ask for". I stopped in the middle of my thoughts and realized, "I wonder if what I ask for will be granted after all".
Reflecting a bit on the Gospel reading, maybe we can consider the following.
A long time ago during the time of the prophets the image of the vine was applied to the people of Israel. The vine was "elected" to be fruitful. But, as the prophets themselves said, the people of Israel were a disappointment. So here comes John's Gospel account saying that, this time, it is Jesus who is the vine.
Something new is revealed. A new people, the branches, will come out of the vine. Our cathecism tells us that we, disciples of Christ, are the branches. There is a bond between the vine and the branches. Sure, we may not always be fruitful, we may turn out to be lousy disciples, but the vine-grower, the Father, does some pruning here and there. The pruning is the work of the Father. The work of the disciples is TO REMAIN in the vine.
John wrote about branches that really do not bear fruits; they are cut off and burned away. Scary. But there is something historical in that and we make a brief note on it. The synagogue tradition rejected the presence of Christian Jews. Some of these people consequently rejected their following of Christ so that they can continue in the synagogues. That happened in the time of John who took verses from the prophet Ezekiel to describe the fate of those who did not remain in Christ. That's history.
Focusing on the branches that continue to remain in the vine, the branches receive sap--life from the vine. Hence they want to remain. To remain means to participate in the mission of the vine and to live according to the commandments of the vine. In John's account LOVE is a command. Love one another as Christ has loved. So the branches who remain live according to the command of Love. This love is fruitful.
"I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit"[verse 5].
Here comes the fun part. The branch, the disciple, who remains in Christ knows that prayers will be answered... that whatever is asked for, one gets it. Ok, fine.
Whatever? Ask for anything? Well, not quite.
The disciple who remains in Christ knows what to ask for. So the "whatever" part corresponds to the "remaining in the vine". As one remains in the vine, one remains in Christ. So what one will ask for will correspond to the life of remaining in the vine. In other words, the disciple asks for the sap of the vine, the life of the vine. The branches will ask for WHATEVER conforms to the Life in Christ.
John's Gospel account speaks of "glory". "We saw his glory" [Jn1/14]. This glory manifests in the branches that remain in the vine, THEY PRODUCE FRUITS. They continue the work--the mission--of Christ by participating in the life of Christ and in particular by accepting the commandment of love. Those who follow Jesus see where he stays and they stay with him [see Jn1/37-39].
So in one's imagination of asking for "whatever" from God, one can stop and ask, "But what exactly is this 'whatever'"? For example can we ask for death? Can we ask for the ruin of life? Can we ask for things that will eventually ruin us? These do not enter the domain of the "whatever".
We can ask for what is good for people around us, including those we do not like. We can ask for accompaniment in the heart of our miseries. We can ask for light in darkness. We can ask for experiencing the presence of Christ in our difficulties. We can ask for WHATEVER is fruitful for people around us, for ourselves, for the Church. We can ask for love--that we really experience love from each other and from God. We can ask that even in the heart of our own pains and struggles we can somehow manifest God's love for the world. As Charles de Foucauld often said, "Cry the Gospel with your life". We can ask that even when we feel so miserable we can cry the Gospel and share some light, no matter how small and weak that light is. So we can ask for "whatever" and we know what we ask for.
Charles de Foucauld used that word too in his prayer of abandonment to the Father, "Whatever you may do I thank you". May our "whatever" be also the Father's "whatever".
