I Am the Vine

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” In today’s Gospel (John 15:1-7) the Kingdom of God is referenced as the “true vine,” the vine that bears glorious fruit. For a branch to grow and be healthy, it must be connected to the vine. If we are not connected to the vine, we will die. Jesus tells us if a branch will not bear fruit, he takes it away, but if a branch does bear fruit, he prunes it and nurtures it so it will be more abundant. The only way we can survive is to remain connected to the vine and the only way we can prosper is through the grace of God. We either bear fruit or we do not. For the vine to grow, dead wood must be pruned for it robs the nutrition needed to feed the branches which produce fruit. So if we are the branches, then what is the fruit that we bear? The fruit is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is alive in all of us. It is through us that we share this gift with others. It is through our involvement with the church, the reading of scriptures and through meditative prayer that gift of the Holy Spirit becomes abundant in us. Jesus tells us that there will be no fruit unless we are joined to him. Jesus promises us that we will bear much fruit if we allow him to nourish us.

A Simple Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, make me a fruitful branch on your vine. Nourish me and feed me so that my fruit may be abundant. Allow the Holy Spirit to inflame my heart with your love so that my fruit may be worthy of you and remove from me anything that will cause me to become fruitless

Yours in Christ Michael Marcon