“Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them… and they shall say within themselves, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit: These are they, whom we had sometime in derision… Behold, how they are numbered among the children of God.”
— Wisdom 5:1,3,5
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman… Abide in me, and I in you.”
— John 15:1,4
As Holy Church continues her joyful procession through the radiant days of Paschaltide, the Wednesday of the second week after the Easter Octave presents us with a pairing of Scripture that strikes both a warning and a consolation. Wisdom 5 unveils the awe of the Last Judgment, where the just are vindicated before those who once mocked their fidelity. Meanwhile, John 15 presents Our Lord’s sublime discourse on the Vine and the branches, that intimate call to divine union.
These readings, when placed within the luminous context of Eastertide, illumine the mystery of sanctifying grace and the hidden glory of Christian suffering.
The Triumph of the Just: Wisdom Seen Anew
Wisdom 5 captures the great reversal of eternity. The righteous—those who, in the eyes of the world, seemed poor, afflicted, and even despised—now stand boldly as sons of God. St. Augustine, in his City of God, reflects on this passage as a prophecy of the Resurrection’s triumph, where “the foolishness of the world” shall shame the wise, and those who seemed to perish shall be revealed as heirs to everlasting glory.
St. Gregory the Great notes in his Moralia in Job that “the patience of the saints is weighed against the presumption of the wicked.” What the world saw as defeat—persecution, humility, obscurity—was in fact the pruning of the soul by the divine Husbandman.
“Abide in Me”: The Vine as the Form of the Christian Life
From the throne of the Upper Room, the Risen Christ, just days before His Passion, speaks of fruitfulness through union with Him: “Abide in me, and I in you.” As the True Vine, He nourishes the branches—His disciples—with His very life.
St. Cyril of Alexandria writes: “He calls Himself the vine, and those united to Him branches, in order to show that we are of the same nature with Him, and that from Him we receive the gift of life.” This mystical incorporation into Christ is no mere metaphor—it is the life of grace received at Baptism, nourished in the Sacraments, and sustained by prayer and fidelity.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in his homilies on the Song of Songs, likens the pruning of the Vine to the trials endured by the just: “He cuts so that He may heal, He wounds that He may bind up. The Vine is fruitful only when it is purged.”
The warning is also clear: “Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away” (Jn 15:2). The branch that lives only in name, without sap, will be cast into the fire. Such a branch is the soul who once lived in grace, but turned inward, refused the pruning of divine love, and bore no fruit of charity or repentance.
Paschaltide and the Unseen Glory of the Saints
In Paschaltide, these readings shine with special significance. The Resurrection, though gloriously manifested in Christ, remains largely hidden in the members of His Body. The world continues to scoff, to persecute, to fail to recognize the life of grace in the soul. And yet, “Behold how they are numbered among the children of God!”—this is the cry that shall rise on the last day.
The Vine still bears fruit. The branches are still being pruned. And we are called to abide—to remain, to dwell, to suffer, and to love within the Vine that was once lifted on the Tree of the Cross.
A Prayer to Endure and Abide
Let us pray, then, as we walk this bright Paschal season with the Risen Christ, that we may not only admire the Vine, but remain within it. May the afflictions of the just—whether public or secret—become the very means by which the divine Husbandman brings forth the sweet fruit of eternal life.
O Jesus, True Vine, root us deeply in Thy love. Let us not fear the pruning of Thy Cross, nor seek fruitfulness apart from Thee. May we be found among the just, abiding in Thee, when the day of judgment reveals all things. Amen.