Unity, attractiveness, fruitfulness and growth.

This one is for the believers or at least the sympathizers and if you are an unbeliever or if you're offended by believers then stop reading right now. Go on. Move away from the computer and make yourself a cuppa or Google your favourite author or post something on FB because there will definitely be some God talk in this installment and I don't want to be responsible for a blog related unpleasantness.

Are they gone? Good.


The Gospel at Mass today was about the '..true vine.' You know Jn 15: 1-8 
" I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more...I am the vine and you are the branches...It is to the glory of My Father that you should bear much fruit and then you will be my disciples."

 Fr. Michael Lenehan, from St.Pius' West Warrnambool, always gives an intelligent, if a slightly unsatisfying sermon. He spoke of his days in the country around Mildura and the many 'beautiful' vineyards he saw. He said that the vineyards made the countryside look beautiful and the sight of them lifted the spirit. He said that the water from the Murray made the the earth come alive and made these wonderful vines possible, producing much fruit and excellent wines.

Of course, being an environmentalist, all I could think of was the the damage done to the poor Murray Darling Basin and the terrible sight of human induced salt pans and bad lands as I drove from Mildura to to Renmark along the Murray last October.

But no, I was in a generous mood and the music which had been particularly beautiful thanks to the efforts of Don Stewart and Paul Venzo had softened my attitude. So I was willing to push environmentalism temporarily aside in an attempt to hear the message of the vines.

Fr.Michael told us about the people who worked on the block or the vineyards of that area. He said that according to the season, the workers would prune the branches,  pull the twisted dead bits off the lattices or wire frames and then feed in the new tendrils which would bear the next harvest. He said that many of the people at Mass in Mildura were from the vineyards and one man told him that his favourite prayer was '...fruit of the vine and work of human hands...' He said that this man would take these words back with him to the vineyard and recite them as he worked. He took the Mass with him to work everyday.

Fr.Lenehen said that this part of the Gospel was telling us to work in unity with each other so that we can be fruitful in our labours to do God's work. Pruning refers to learning in the sense that we let go of the old and open our minds to the Gospel's message of love, forgiveness, inclusion, acceptance and oneness in Christ. He said that according to this reading, our communities should be unified, attractive especially to the secular community, fruitful and growing.

Well, it would seem to me that the church has gone backwards in these respects. It's not particularly unified, not particularly attractive, only fruitful at a very grassroots level and definitely not growing.  Perhaps the worker cut off the wrong branches. Perhaps the church itself cut off the wrong branches, in particular its progressive section including priests, nuns and laity.

The church is an example of what Mildura and other irrigators have probably done to the Murray Darling Basin.

It is a beautiful thought and I would love to apply it to the human rights movement, our environment group and the Greens, especially our local branch...of the vine! Did I just hear a great big collective thud? Was it the conservative Catholic human induced, climate change deniers fainting at the mention of the Greens?

The conservative hierarchy of the church has done an absolute number on us. I'm still trying to get used to the pointless changes in the wording of the Mass. So much effort, money and carbon emissions spent on such a useless task, the only point of which was to flex the hierarchy's collective muscle.

I will pray that our groups will indeed flourish and also that the Church will once again open its doors and windows and let in the fresh air of the Second Vatican Council which brought with it healthy debate and freedom and enlightenment. Perhaps then, once again, we will be unified, attractive, fruitful and begin to help grow our country toward social justice, equality and a sustainable environment .