The month of May is a month that we look forward to.
That is because the first day of the month is a public holiday because it is Labour Day.
What a nice way to begin the month. It would be nicer if the rest of the days of the month are also holidays.
Yes, on a day like Labour Day where the economic and social achievements of workers are acknowledged and celebrated and also the rights of the workers are highlighted, most offices and factories would be closed.
Except of course essential services won’t be closed. (Just imagine if the sanitation service providers suspend their washroom services!!)
And in Singapore, shopping centers and restaurants also won’t be closed. Because in Singapore, shopping and eating are considered essential services, or even crucial services.
And of course we can also say that the Church won’t be closed.
After all, whether it’s a holiday or not, there will still be Mass, so the priest still must work.
But that is alright, because some people think that the priest only works on Saturdays and Sundays, so a bit more work won’t kill him (right?)
Anyway, public holidays are also the best days to have activities in Church.
Since people need not go to work, then it might be a good opportunity for them to come for a day of recollection, or a talk, or a faith formation workshop, etc.
Or just let them come to church to pray and have a quiet time, especially in this church which has such beautiful surroundings.
Well, usually on a holiday, we would want to spend some time at home with our loved ones.
All the more, this is God’s house, and we are God’s children and we want to come home and spend some time with God.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about He being the vine and we are the branches.
But He also used an image that we are all very familiar with.
He said: Make your home in Me, as I make Mine in you.
As it is often said “Charity begins at home”.
Similarly, when we are at home with Jesus, then we will bear fruit.
We are used to the idea that bearing fruits involve some kind of activities in which we must do something.
And with that, the bearing of fruits come with a unit of measure: How many activities are there? How many parishioners are in organizations? How much money is needed and what is the budget? Does all that sound familiar? Sounds like some KPI (key performance indicators)?
Yet, bearing fruits is not about how busy, or how many activities or how we are performing.
Jesus gave us the key factor in bearing fruit – Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
Because all of us have a home, be it temporary or be it for eternity, and it’s certainly not imaginary.
In our homes, is where Jesus wants to make His home, and in Jesus, we will make our eternal home.
It’s at home that we learn to bear fruits – fruits of love, charity, patience, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness.
And no matter how far we go (or venture or stray), we will still come home one day. We must come home.
As a matter of fact, we can learn a lot from the homing pigeons.
The most reliable homing pigeons are those that are born and bred in the same place.
And where the pigeon coop is safe and comfortable, the pigeons will always fly back home, no matter how far they have been brought away.
During WWI, homing pigeons were used by the soldiers to send messages to their headquarters and they had to be sure that these homing pigeons were reliable.
But of course the enemy would also know that the pigeons carried important messages, and would try to shoot them down.
Probably one of the most famous homing pigeon was “Cher Ami” two French words meaning “Dear Friend”.
Cher Ami flew twelve important missions to deliver messages. Perhaps the most important was the message he carried on Oct 4, 1918.
During WWI, the United States were sending soldiers to Europe to help France regain its freedom.
On Oct 3, 1918, a company of 500 American soldiers, with their commander, Major Charles Whittesey were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill.
Surrounded by enemy soldiers, many were killed and wounded on the first day.
By the second day, only about 200 men were still alive and able to fight.
Major Charles sent out several pigeons to tell his commanders at headquarters where they were and how bad the situation was.
But of course the enemy soldiers had shot the pigeons down.
To make matters worse, the American artillery tried to give the trapped soldiers some protection by firing on the hill, but the shells were dropping right on the trapped soldiers.
Major Charles had only one pigeon left, Cher Ami, and it was his last hope.
With a message to tell his commanders his precise location so that the artillery won’t fire on his men, he let off Cher Ami and said a prayer for the pigeon.
As Cher Ami began to fly back home, the enemy soldiers saw him and started firing at him.
Bullets flew at the pigeon and for a minute it looked like the pigeon was hit and he wasn’t going to make it.
But somehow Cher Ami managed to spread his wings and started climbing again.
The little pigeon flew 25 miles in 25 minutes to deliver his message.
The shelling stopped and more than 200 American soldiers were saved.
All because the little homing pigeon, though shot and wounded, would not give up and flew to where he belonged, back home.
The point of the story is, in going back home, we bear fruits.
And for Cher Ami, the homing pigeon, flying back home meant saving 200 lives.
Yes, it is easy to say that we must make our home in Jesus.
Yet a more practical question to ask is how can we let Jesus make His home in us?
Firstly, of course our homes must be a home of prayer.
And what better way to reinforce family prayer than this month, the month of May, a month that is dedicated to Mary, and which is expressed in the praying of the Rosary.
So not only Jesus wants to make His home in our homes, even Mother Mary is knocking on our doors.
Also make the home a safe and holy place by blessing it with holy water and even incensing the house.
It seems like these practices have been neglected and forgotten altogether.
So let’s “home in”, and make our home a house of prayer where Jesus can make His home is us.
Like the little homing pigeon, Cher Ami, it is in coming home to Jesus that we bear fruits and become disciples of Jesus.