Allowing God to prune (Monique Jacobs)

   Have you ever engaged in any bush, tree, or rose pruning? Then you know what lies ahead for the Vine grower. When I prune… I often do so reluctantly, not all that sure that where I place the blade will actually bear the fruit or bring to blossom the glorious rose, as I hope it will! 

    No such fear with God. Seeing the BIG picture, God knows just what to leave and what to remove. The Gospel tells us that God removes BOTH what bears fruit and what does not. “Wait! It’s not supposed to be that way!” 

   Allowing God a free hand to respond to the longing which exists in our deepest heart, will certainly result in an abundance we never knew possible. 

--Monique Jacobs

Image source 1: https://paulchappell.com/2012/08/15/when-god-prunes-dont-resist/
Image source 2:  https://silveroak.com/blog/vine-pruning/
Quotation source & full article

Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 25, 2024: Remain in me, as I remain in you...

Remain in me, as I remain in you…

What does it take to remain in Christ? 

    In the midst of the Last Supper Discourse in John’s Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples to remain in him as a branch remains on the vine, so that they might bear much fruit. In every vineyard, pruning and tending is necessary on an ongoing basis, in order to keep the vine alive, generation after generation. God has long tended the vine that is humankind, pruning when necessary, keeping alive what is best in us, taking away that which does not produce any fruit. In the Acts of the Apostles, Saul – not yet called Paul – is no longer persecuting the Church; once outside, he is now inside, and he will remain in Christ even when many try to kill him. That which was not fruitful in Saul has been cut away, leading to a radical conversion. Saul now speaks out boldly in the name of Jesus. One can imagine him praying Psalm 22, I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people. Saul bows down to a power greater than his own; he is subject to God’s will, freely and of his own accord, thanks to his conversion at the word of Christ. 

    Our conversion may not be as radical as St. Paul’s, but we go through conversion daily; it is an ongoing process. We come to Eucharist every week that we might allow Christ in, allow him to be one with us, that he might remain in us and inspire us with his love. We remain in him if we allow the Lord to prune us, to transform us, helping us to be Christ-centered rather than self-centered. In so doing, we must, as the First Letter of John reminds us, believe in the name of God’s Son and love one another. Keeping his commandments is another way that we remain in him and he in us. We must live as he lived and love as he loved, love not in word and speech only, but in deed and in truth, not superficially, but from the depths of our being. If we do so, we will remain in him, the branch to his vine, producing the fruit of his love, daily.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Our real journey (Wendell Berry)

When we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work,
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey. 

 --Wendell Berry  

Image source: https://www.thegoodbook.com/blog/interestingthoughts/2020/02/19/what-journeys-tell-us-about-jesus/
Quotation source

Lord, open my hands (Henri Nouwen)

Dear God, 

I so much want to be in control.
I want to be the master of my own destiny.
Still, I know that you are saying:
“Let me take you by the hand and lead you. 
Accept my love
and trust that where I will bring you,
the deepest desires of your heart will be fulfilled.” 

Lord, open my hands to receive your gift of love. 

 Amen.

 --Henri Nouwen      

 
Image source: https://www.worldchallenge.org/take-jesus%E2%80%99-hand-and-follow 
Quotation source

Earth as altar (Sr. Joan Chittister / Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer)

Not to save the whole of creation
shrinks our spiritual vision and 
separates us from the wholeness of life.

 --Sr. Joan Chittister 

I want to worship
at the shrine of everywhere,
want to know every inch
of this earth as an altar—
every walk, a pilgrimage.
Every step, a step
from holy to holy
to holy. 

--Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Sacred Ground

May we, on this Earth Day 2024,

begin to pay more attention to our planet 

and its needs as a site of holiness and wholeness!

Image source: Paul Baliker, A Matter of Time (2013), which the sculptor considers “a call to action.” For close-ups of this remarkable piece, visit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2385560/Paul-Balikers-vast-sculpture-A-Matter-Of-Time-carved-entirely-DRIFTWOOD.html
Quotation 1 source
Quotation 2 source

The voice of Jesus (Bishop Robert Barron)

 

    In [John’s] Gospel, Jesus declares: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.” He specifies that he knows intimately those whom he will gather—and that they know him. 

    A good shepherd will be able to recognize clearly which sheep are of his flock, and the sheep themselves will be able to distinguish the voice of their shepherd from the array of voices and sounds that surround them. 

    What is it that leads people to accept Jesus Christ? What is it that appeals to them when they read Scripture or they approach the sacraments? We could say that it is only custom or background or luck that leads them to say yes, but I think that something much deeper is going on. There is a resonance when Christ’s voice is heard precisely because the whole world has been wired to hear it. 

    It’s not unlike the acorn theory of personal development. When a child encounters what they are “meant” to be, somehow it grabs them and chooses them. So it goes with the voice of Jesus. We lost sheep implicitly recognize it and respond. 

--Bishop Robert Barron, Gospel Reflection, May 1, 2023 

Image source: Jesus as the Good Shepherd, mosaic (5th c.), Galla Placidia Mausoleum, Ravenna, Italy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Galla_Placidia#/media/File:%22The_good_Shepherd%22_mosaic_-_Mausoleum_of_Galla_Placidia.jpg, with a discussion of the Good Shepherd in art at: https://seeinggodinart.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/the-good-shepherd/

Do with me what you will (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

My memory, my understanding

And my entire will,

All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace.

That is enough for me.

Amen. 

 --St. Ignatius of Loyola       

To hear Dan Schutte’s song, These Alone Are Enough, based on this Ignatian prayer, click on the video below: 

Image source 1: https://beckyeldredge.com/resisting-jesus-resisting-surrender/
Image source 2: Peter Paul Rubens, St. Ignatius of Loyola (1610-1612), https://www.worldhistory.org/Ignatius_of_Loyola/
Prayer source
Video source