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