“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty.” (John 15:5)
Jesus is the big tree trunk. I am the healthy branch at his side, sapping life and vitality from the juicy tree. This is the sap I need for life and fruitfulness. Christ’s grace is always there for me. It is inexhaustible.
How do I get the sap of life from Christ? I can think of two ways suggested by Jesus himself:
- “Make my word your home.”
- “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.”
His word is always there, available, open and inviting. His flesh is also readily available. If we truly desire it, we can always partake of it everyday through the Eucharist.
When we eat his body and dwell in his word day after day, we cannot help but remain in him and thus bear much fruit as he promised. What does bearing much fruit mean? I think immediately of the parable of the seed. The good seed and falls on good soil bears abundant harvest. God created each of us with a mission, talent and purpose.
My purpose in life is to learn and communicate. I am a student of life and the truth, which is Jesus Christ. When I learn my subject well, I communicate the knowledge to people through writing and publishing. Christ is saying to me today that if I want to bear much fruit in learning and communicating him, I must do first things first. And the most basic and first thing is to learn to remain in Christ as a branch remains in the trunk and saps life from it. This means that we cannot find fulfillment in our vocation without Christ.
The lesson for me today is this: I desire greatly to succeed in life. I want to fulfill God’s purpose for my life. First thing: I make the word of Christ my home. I receive him frequently in the Eucharist. Then I accept in faith that in due season, I will bear much fruit. I walk in faith and not by sight and do not evaluate my success through sense evidence. I accept the word of Jesus as true that because I am in him, I am bearing fruit.
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