Grapes From Heaven and Graves From The Earth

I like grapes. Don't you? It is a Christian fruit I believe. I think whoever loves Jesus, would no doubt love grapes, because the Gospel are full of grapes.

Jesus often spoke of grapes and wines and vines and vineyards in His parables. He turned water into wine. He spoke of the workers in vineyards, about sending labourers to God's vineyard. He used 'vine' metaphorically to expound His loving bond with us. "I am  the vine and you are the branches," he said.

A beautiful blessed and soothing fruit!  Isn't it?

Why so much of talk about grapes?

Well, it is to symbolise our relationship with God. To represent all the good things we receive from God, and all the good things we can give back to God.

During Holy Mass we remember grapes very meaningfully.

Our sweat, our energy, our good will, our joys and sorrows, our hopes and expectations, our trust in God, et al, are all offered to God through the annointed hand of the Priest. God accepts our offerings and He in turn gives us back the most precious gift a human can receive the body and the blood  of our precious Lord! In fact Jesus chose the fruit of the vine to transform into His precious blood.

So, when I say grapes from heaven, it means everything that comes from the God's abundance.

But are we ready to receive?

How can we make ourselves worthy of heavenly grapes?

The answer is clear. Simply do what Jesus says. You don't need deep theology or philosophy to please God or obey God.

"Do as He says" said Jesus' mother to the servants at the wedding at Cana. They simply did as they were told and filled the vessels with water. And Jesus performed a miracle.

Water became vine. Fruit of man's obedience transformed into a gift of heaven.

Jesus can and will do miracles in our lives too if we do as He says.

What does He say?

"Seek first the Kingdom of God. and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6 : 33).

So, this is our homework. Are we doing 'as He says' ?

Are we seriously seeking  the kingdom of God here on earth? Or are we striving to build our own earthly kingdom?

Are we seeking our own vain glory, our comfort and pleasure at the cost of others'pain? Are we engaged in a crazy rat race to compete with others to become popular and powerful? Are we going after money, material possessions or improper sex? Are we neglecting our duties  and responsibilities towards our dependents? Are we running after imaginary gods, soothsayers, astrologers? Are we dishonest?  If so, we are not seeking God's kingdom, we are digging our metaphorical graves for our 'breathing dead bodies'.

Think about Jesus. Believe His words. We don't need deep theology or philosophy to please God or obey God.Do as He says, if we need a miraculous transformation. We can either be nourished by Heavenly grapes or perish in earthly graves. The choice is ours!