vine-and-branches

“Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit”.

In today’s Gospel reading, we experience the imagery of the vine and the branches. As the branch of the vine matures, it begins to look more like the vine itself. As it remains connected, is sustained by the nourishment provided, and protected by the vine grower, the branches become more and more conformed to the vine. This is also true in the event that a branch not originally attached to the vine is grafted to it. Over time, the branches are almost indistinguishable from the vine itself. The blessing of the vine does not stop there. A healthy and mature branch will also bear fruit.

Our hope, as disciples of Jesus, no matter what our background, culture, gender, ethnicity, or race will be the same. We are to be one as the Son and the Father are one. As St Paul has written to the Churches in Galatia and Collosse: “In Christ there is neither Jew or Greek, circumcision or uncircumcision, male or female, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free because we are all one in Christ” (cf. Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11).

Being a disciple of Jesus is not being a mindless follower, quite the opposite. The more we are conformed to Jesus, the more we come to know him and also experience the unique gift of ourselves. We begin to let go of the pressures to conform to the pressures of the world, that which stunts our growth, and begin to embrace the freedom and truth of who we are. That freedom that just wants to burst out is allowed to be free when we die to our false selves and live in the love of Christ.

We will experience the freedom of being fully alive when we accept the invitation of Jesus to enter the divine communion of love between himself and his Father. We remain connected to him as the vine when we also “obey Jesus and love one another with God’s radical, self-giving love” (Martin and Wright, 254). Focusing solely and turning in upon ourselves disconnects us from the vine, from the very source of our lives. Just as the body will suffer without water and food, so our soul will suffer if we are separated from the living spring of our sustenance. Remaining attached to Jesus, the vine, means that we will mature and live our life to the full, with joy that expands out beyond ourselves to engage in supporting the needs of others.

We will mature and bear fruit as we remain in Jesus and allow Jesus to remain in us. A good measure of our ripe harvest is when we: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:12-15).

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Photo: Accessed from Coravin Wine

Martin, Francis and Wright, IV, William M. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Praying the Our Father helps us to stay connected and close to Jesus!

Today we return to Jesus’ teaching that he is the vine, and we are the branches. The key points of this teaching are that apart from Jesus we can do nothing, and all things are possible when we stay connected to him!

The goal for us then as disciples of Jesus is to stay connected to Jesus. One way that can help is the Our Father or Lord’s prayer. This is the prayer that Jesus taught his apostles when they asked him to teach them to pray, and since that day when he taught them, generation after generation, up to and including this moment, this prayer has been prayed!

Rote prayers are powerful, but they can also lose their punch if we are not attentive to what we are saying. One helpful way to revisit the Lord’s Prayer is to do so from the perspective of allowing it to help us to see how these words can come alive in our meditation and help us to grow in our relationship with Jesus and stay connected to him.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…

These first words help us to get in touch with the reality that God is God, and we are not. We are his created beings. God is completely transcendent and beyond us while at the same time intimately close in that we can have a relationship with him. This happens not because of anything we can do, for God is so beyond our comprehension that we will never be able to comprehend him. We can grow our relationship with God because he has made us in his image and likeness, he comes close to us, most especially in the sending of his Son to be human with us so that we can be divine like him. God is so far beyond us as infinite, yet as St. Augustine taught, closer to us than we are to ourselves.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

We remain close to Jesus and so with our Father and experience the love of the Holy Spirit as we grow in relationship with him, trust him, and follow his guidance. We need to resist the temptation of going it alone, thinking we know better than God, and not including him in our discernment. His kingdom is made more present when we collaborate with him, when we follow his will so that what is practiced in heaven, intimacy with God, will happen on earth. In following the will of God to love as Jesus loves us, we take care of one another, empower and challenge one another, and will each other’s good.

Give us this day our daily bread…

When we trust God, he will not only provide for our needs, but he will also provide himself in the Eucharist. We can get no closer than consuming his Son whom he sent. We are divinized, made like God as we consume the Body and Blood of Jesus. Our regular participation in the Mass transforms us, strengthens us, and unites us. Heaven and earth become one during the celebration of the Mass!

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…

Forgiveness we do not do well, but it is a powerful way to unite, a powerful way to heal and grow in our relationship with God and one another. When we have the humility to seek forgiveness and forgive, we experience healing and maturation. We free ourselves from hate and division because we resist the temptation of curving in upon ourselves and perpetuating the hurt that has been committed. We can choose instead to trust in God and collaborate with him to bring about healing and transformation.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…

God does not tempt us, but he does allow us to be tempted. He loves us so much that he is willing to risk that we will choose someone or something over him. Our closeness and intimacy with Jesus grow, when we trust and choose to be with him of our own free will. Each yes to Jesus, each moment we devote to him increases the love we receive and experience such that we will better see the lies, the false illusions, and the temptations of the enemy that lead us away from our Father.

The father of lies tempts us and condemns us when we fall. Our Father leads us gently with tender chords of love, forgives us even when we reject him, and never tires of forgiving us. He invites us to turn back to him, time and again, no matter how far we think that we have turned away. When we turn back to him, we will become aware that he is right there with his arms wide open waiting for us, to embrace us and love us more than we can ever imagine!

As we meditate on each part of the Our Father in this way, Jesus will offer each of us our own unique ways of remaining connected to him as a branch is to the vine, and so with trusting in Jesus, all things are possible.

Amen!

Photo: Praying in the adoration chapel of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, Los Angeles, CA back in 2019.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Staying connected to the vine our source.

In today’s Gospel reading, we experience the imagery of the vine and the branches. As the branch of the vine matures, it begins to look more like the vine itself. As it remains connected, is sustained by the nourishment provided, and protected by the vine grower, the branches become more and more conformed to the vine. This is also true in the event that a branch not originally attached to the vine is grafted to it. Over time, the branches are almost indistinguishable from the vine itself.

Our hope, as disciples of Jesus, no matter what our background, culture, gender, ethnicity, or race will be the same. We are to be one as the Son and the Father are one. As St Paul has written to the Churches in Galatia and Collosse: In Christ there is neither Jew or Greek, circumcision or uncircumcision, male or female, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free because we are all one in Christ (cf. Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11).

We are not to be automatons, cyborg, ants, mindless followers. Being a Christian means the opposite, the more we are conformed to Jesus, the more we come to know him and also to really come to know the uniqueness of ourselves. We begin to let go of the pressures to conform to that which stunts our growth and begin to embrace who we are, the truth of our reality and dignity. That sense of being fully who we are that sometimes just wants to burst out is allowed to be free when we die to our false selves and live in Christ.

We must resist the temptation of turning in upon ourselves, for when we do, we disconnect ourselves from the vine, from the very source of our life. Just as the body will suffer without water regularly, so our soul will suffer if we are separated from the living spring of our sustenance. Remaining connected to Jesus, our true vine, means that we will mature and live our life to the full, with joy that reaches out beyond ourselves to serving the needs of others, thus bearing fruit to share.

There are unique interests and desires that each of us have that have been placed in our heart by God that when we identify them and put them into practice we thrive and bring about opportunities of healing and growth for others. There are also thoughts and temptations offered by the enemy that leads us away from the Lord, disconnecting us from the source of the vine. If we don’t discern well and correct that disconnection, it leads to spiritual weakening and death. The key is to discern correctly and identify prudently between that which separates and leads to death and that which unifies and gives us life in Jesus. Taking a breath, lifting our heart and mind to God, getting in touch with what we experience in each of our decisions, and daily examining our day will help us to sharpen our discernment and strengthen our connection with the True Vine.

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Photo: Jesus our Vine. Rosary Garden, St Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, April 28, 2024