Gospel Reflection For The 1st day of May in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
John 15:1-8
1 I am the true vine; and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now you are clean by reason of the word, which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.
6 If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples.
I come from a long tradition of grape growing and wine making. My grandfather grew grapes, as did his father, etc. Much of my childhood was spent under the old fashioned, box frame-style grape arbors that were used for muscadine grapes. Muscadine and its relatives are native grapes to America. European settlers found that European wine grapes did not grow well here, so they began to cultivate wild grapes for wine and to grow tree fruit for cider. Grape vines must be pruned annually for good grape production. When pruned, the plant can put more of its energy into growing large, abundant clusters of grapes. If left wild, the grapes will be smaller and the clusters will be more sparse – the plant puts most of its energy into growing vines. Unpruned vines can grow massively huge, reaching as high as any tree they can climb and sprawling out for yards.
It is much the same with mankind. When trained, cultivated by religious instruction, nourished by the Sacraments and pruned by the will and Word of God, we can produce incredible fruit. Truly, there is very little man cannot do within the sphere of the possibilities of this world. The fruit that a holy man can produce can be as abundant as the Catholic church that was propagated by humble, simple men to become the largest, most powerful and venerable institution the world has ever or will ever see. No other institution has within it the power of God and His promise that it would last until the end of time. But, it took men to build it and requires man to fulfill its mission.
There is no end to what we can do if we remain “in the vine” in the Spirit of God. The way we do this is to take care to remain in communion with God’s Church, receiving the Sacraments that give life to our souls and allow us to share in the holiness of God. Frequent Confession and receiving the Eucharist is essential. Prayer is essential. Cut off from the True Vine, we will wither and die. We must also pray that our Protestant brothers and sisters may be grafted back into the vine.
A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass readings January-June, 2024. may be purchased as a .pdf directly from me using this link https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-daily-catholic-devotional-reflections.html or in paperback on Amazon amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.