Reflection
Gospel
The Vine and the Branches
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15: 1- 8
Reflection
In today’s Gospel, may we reflect on last week’s where Jesus pictured himself as the “Good Shepherd” and today we hear him say he is the “vine”. He is relating himself in a familiar image to his hearers, but intensifies the picture by claiming that the “fruit”- the “grapes” are united to him as vine and these grapes are his disciples.
This theme is picked up again as Jesus reminds them all to stay or remain in him by bearing fruit, or they will be cut off and burned up.
Jesus asks his disciples to “remain” which is different from “stay stuck”. Jesus is preparing them for their going out as he himself moves on. What does “remain” mean then for Jesus and his little cluster? What does “bearing fruit” mean and what does being separate mean?
Growing stronger in our “culture”, there is an increasing urgency to belong while remaining independent, which is quite a conflict. There is also a personal hunger to discover one’s depth, one’s singular personality. “Character” is a word which has come to mean more than a person in a play or movie. The term has something to do with strength, personal values and dedication. Accomplishments can reveal character, but there is also the danger of a “Pseudo-character” when one’s deeds become a cover-up for emptiness.
Being baptised into Jesus is not a single event, but a process of entering his “character”. He is asking his disciples to be so influenced by the relationship he offers that they will go out and do “something” which will reveal him by what they do and especially how they do it.
I have noticed over the years, a quality of “character” which is a blessing to me. I experience it most often with those persons who work or live among the marginal, injured and poor of this world. They “remain” well. Remain themselves; actually receive more of themselves by their being touched by those they touch. They seem to separate themselves from “accomplishing” themselves. They touch into the Jesus who remains deeply within them rather than finding their identity from polishing the fruit, they are producing.
These disciples separate themselves from “doing” and remain peaceful in their “being” or “remaining” in the Jesus who remains deeply inside them.
Many women and men “remain” in Jesus while the culturally conditioned illusions are pruned from their hearts and spirits. “Success”, "accomplishments”, “trophies”, and the various self-validating acquisitions drop slowly away. This “pruning” seems to deepen So it seems that this “pruning” is part of the love which Jesus offers those I experience as having depth of soul, who grow in “character”. Naturally speaking, we do not like the thought or experience of being so pruned, but the church and the needy profit from their resulting fruitful lives.
This spiritual deepening which I refer to, as “character” is the growth Jesus offers those who are touched by the poor, the sick, and those Jesus called his Sisters and Brothers. God is not a bad “vine dresser” after all.
Julie Leonard Religious Education Leader/Wellbeing Leader