Remain in Me

"Jesus said to his disciples: '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 one 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. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 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. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.'" (John 15:1-8)

“Remain in me.” You think that would be an easy thing to do, and something that we would all want to do. Jesus reminds us over and over how he will sustain us if we would only choose to remain in him. “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.” (John 4:14) He wants us to let go of all the things that weigh us down and take his yoke upon us, “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Matt 11:30) Remaining in him is an active decision. It is one we must make every day. There are so many things in this world that tug at us. They tug at the parts of us that want affirmation and love, the parts of us that want instant gratification, a quick fix. This is where the pruning comes in. We cannot bear the fruit of Christ’s love unless we are pruned of our sin, our vices, our addictions, our selfishness and indifference. We can’t bear the fruit of God’s mercy and forgiveness until we are pruned of our judgmental attitude, our unforgiveness and our pride. Some of these things have become so ingrained in us; have become our defense mechanisms or things we cling to. And allowing God to rid us of these will be painful.

God loves us where we are at but he doesn’t want us to remain there. The small fruits that we bear right now are just the beginning. In order to bear more fruit, pruning is required. But Christ promises us that he will remain in us. It is only through his grace that we can become anything that is good. This weekend at my parish the children received their first Holy Communion. This is one of the few sacraments that we can receive over and over. It is a way for us to receive Christ into ourselves and the grace needed to remain united with him. Not only can we receive it every Sunday, but every day. I have found that attending daily Mass provides me with the grace I need to get through each day. At the end of the day, no matter how difficult it has been; no matter how many times I have fallen into sin, I know that in the morning I will again be forgiven of my sins and sustained with the Body of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It strengthens me and allows me to remain in Christ, which in turn, glorifies the Father.