The Vine and the Branches

In today's Gospel, John 15: 1-8, Jesus says to us:  "I am the vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you."

Attached to Jesus, the Vine, I am fed with abundance and equipped to do whatever good the Spirit prompts me to do in Jesus' name.  Attached to Jesus, I am able to weather whatever storms I encounter in life this day.  Attached to Jesus, I am able to see through the darkness I may encounter on any given day. Attached to Jesus, I am purified of the lies I "swallow" without being critical of what I hear. Attached to Jesus, I am purified of sin that I may have committed this day.  Attached to Jesus, I am made whole and enlightened. Attachment to Jesus makes me a recipient of Jesus' Wisdom, Jesus' strength, Jesus' courage, Jesus' prudence, Jesus' abundance, Jesus' inheritance and Jesus' divine life! WOW!

To remain attached, I need to seek Jesus above all, drink at the "well" of Jesus' words--the Holy Scriptures, receive the sacraments, and live as Jesus' lived. In short, as we are told in Micah 6: 8, Yahweh asks only this of you: "to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God." When we do these things, we remain attached to Jesus.

Remaining in Jesus and bearing much fruit

In today’s Gospel, John 15: 1-8, Jesus reminds us that He is the true vine and that His Father (and ours) is the vine grower.  The Father “takes away every branch in [Jesus] that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does …[the Father] prunes so that it bears more fruit.”  Jesus also reminds us that we are “already pruned because of the word that…[Jesus speaks to us].”  Furthermore, Jesus tells us clearly that “without [Him] we can do nothing” anymore than a branch can bear fruit apart from the tree.  If you and I do not remain in Jesus, we “will be thrown out like a branch and wither.”  Finally, Jesus tells us that if “we remain in Him and [His words] remain” in us, we “can ask for whatever we want and it will be done” for us. By bearing a lot of fruit and becoming Jesus’ disciples, the ”Father is glorified.”

In reflecting upon this passage, we might internalize it as follows:

The Father is my grower. He “grows” me, nurtures my growth, cultivates me, removes the weeds that impede my growth or cause my decay via selfishness, deceitfulness, fear, hatred, jealousy, envy, aggressive  behaviors, stinginess, and whatever blocks my will from being one with the will of the Father.   As I think of an infant growing into adulthood, everything is within its physical body for it to become an adult man or woman and function well as such. In terms of the spiritual being that I am as coming from the Father, I also have everything within me—attached, of course, to the vine (to Jesus) and pruned by the Father—to become the person God designed me to become spiritually. When I am off track, so to speak, the Father prunes me and, when necessary, like the potter on the potter’s wheel, begins the process all over again so that I turn out as He desires.

Jesus pleads with us:  “Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord; whoever remains in me will bear much fruit” (Jn 15: 4a, 5b).

In what ways are you remaining in Jesus? Does the "fruit" you bear each day give testimony that you are attached to the vine, attached to Jesus, your Savior, relying upon Him and the Spirit for the courage, the strength, the enlightenment you need to do what is right and just?

Grafted onto the Vine, Who Is Jesus

“I am the vine, you are the branches [each of us is a branch].   Whoever remains in me and I in him [her] will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”  When and how did I become a branch on Jesus, the Vine? At my baptism I was grafted onto the Tree of Life, Jesus.   I remain on that vine when I do what Jesus did here on earth:  work to do God’s will, as Jesus did the will of His Father even to the point of death on the cross to save us from sin. I remain on that Vine when, in sufferings and disaster, I cling to Him, uniting my suffering to the sufferings of Christ on the cross, when I do not lose hope in hopeless situations because I take my burdens to the Lord, seek help from those who are capable of helping me and do what I am able to do  to move beyond my pain to healing and new life.   I remain grafted onto Jesus, the Vine, when I am open to the Spirit, when I seek the Spirit, when I seek God above all else. I remain grafted on the vine when I love as Jesus loved—unconditionally. I remain grafted on the vine when I feed the “hungry,” those hungry for love, for forgiveness, for understanding, for comfort, for support and, yes, the things they need to survive physically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, socially and I do the same for myself.  I remain grafted on the vine when I release those imprisoned by injustice, by exclusion for that which is rightly theirs: shelter, clothing, education, food. I remain grafted onto Jesus when I seek forgiveness of God and of others and of self, when I acknowledge my sinfulness. I remain grafted onto Jesus when I act humbly, justly and love tenderly. The only way I can do this is through Jesus Christ—with Jesus, grafted onto Jesus I can do all these things, glorifying God here on earth, bearing much fruit and becoming His disciple day in and day out!