I Am The Vine And My Father Is The Vine Dresser

(By Fr. Dexter Brereton)

Cut off from me, you can do nothing.

[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”0829441700″ locale=”us” height=”375″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yJEPgliUL.jpg” width=”250″]One of the blessings that God has granted me in recent days is discovering the family of my late father the BRERETONS of whom I knew very little as I grew up. My curiosity was sharpened by the fact that whenever I introduced myself to someone quite often they would claim to know someone with the same surname, ending invariably with the question “Is ‘so-and-so Brereton’ related to you?” to which my standard response would be “Well…there aren’t that many of us so that we are probably at least distantly related since, in Trinidad at least, the Breretons are ONE PUMPKIN VINE”.

Getting to know something of the pumpkin vine of which I am a part has been a joyous process and I think it began in 2012 when I accompanied my mom on a trip to England. While we were there, I discovered the village of Brereton in Staffordshire, the place from which my family surname is taken; a name which means “place of the briar” and has been in existence at least since the Middle Ages.

In today’s reading places before us a discourse of Jesus in which he refers to the Christian family as a “vine” in fact he begins: “I am the true vine, my Father is the Vine-dresser.” This famous image of St. John for the Christian community builds on an Old Testament idea of Israel as God’s “vine.” A famous quote from Isaiah 5: 7 says “The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel.” Grapes produced by the vine were a major agricultural product in the life of the ancient people of Israel, used for eating and making wine and was a regular part of life. It is no wonder then that the vineyard became a biblical symbol for God’s holy people.

It is interesting for me just how much this sense of being rooted in a wider clan or family has become important to me over time. Many ancient cultures and certainly African culture honoured the ancestors who have long died as a vital part of our lives and critical to our sense of identity. In the periods in my life when I experience ‘acute crisis’ I find myself talking to my ancestors, beginning with the most recent ancestors whom I knew personally, my grandparents, my dad, aunts, uncles etc. Jesus says: “Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.” Applying this to my own life, I remain in my ancestors, and they remain in me and this enables me to bear fruit, to live a life marked by beauty and effectiveness, in a similar way, Jesus is the centre of unity among us Christians and remaining rooted in Jesus the vine, obeying his word, gives beauty and power to our lives.

Here are some questions for our reflection:

Do I have a sense of being a part of the Christian (pumpkin) vine? If not, why?

Do I treasure the relationships of the family into which I was born or with whom I was raised?

How do I ‘remain’ in Jesus? Do I spend time knowing him better, getting familiar with his words?