JOHN 15:1-12 I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you…
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned…
As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
REFLECTION:
We, future saints, and saints already in heaven receive the grace to become saints from abiding in Jesus…
The Father is the vine grower. Jesus is the vine… “I am the vine you are the branches…whoever remains in me will bear much fruit”…
Our Branches are pruned to bear more fruit…do we resist when God tries to remove shoots from the branch that may inhibit the bearing of more fruit….
” Remain in my love…and your joy will be complete”…anyone who doesn’t remain with Jesus will wither and die…Do I want to wither and die…Of course not…Jesus keep my branch attached to you…
if we remain with Jesus our joy will be complete…all of us want to be happy…really happy…really whole…by keeping the commandments and loving one another, my joy will be complete…
Jesus wants his friends, us included, to know He is not abandoning us. Though His physical presence may be taken away, His spiritual reality will continue to sustain and nourish us as long as we abide in him……. For in Him we live and move and have our being” Acts 17:28
In our pursuit of things of this world, have I not had enough disappointment with unmet expectations, material pleasures that only satisfy for a moment… I was made by God for God…And that’s a good thing….to share in His divine life …What makes me think doing it my way is better than God’s way…isn’t it time to embrace His pruning…that I may bear more fruit… “This is my commandment, love one another as I have loved you!”
SILENT PRAYER
ABIDE IN JESUS!