FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER B

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 LESS SELF, MORE JESUS!

JN 15: 1-8

 

 


 

 “I am the vine and you are the branches… apart from me you can do nothing.” I really think these are some of the most beautiful words in all of Scriptures. It gives us the secret of a holy life – how to be truly united to Jesus and how to make Jesus the center of our hearts.

 

How do we live this vision of the unity of the vine and the branches in our day to day life? What practical step can we take so that we can always adhere to Jesus? The book “Spiritual Combat” gives us a wise advice. The author says, we have to do two things: first, trust yourself less, and second, have more confidence in God.

 

Trusting yourself less does not mean doubting yourself. Because God has given us talents and abilities, we need a level of confidence in our gifts. However, we must remember to always be realistic. The most talented among us is still a weak and imperfect being. The moment we make ourselves – our ideas, feelings, plans, etc – the sole standard of our actions, soon we will feel its effects. We can fall into sin, hurt others, make serious mistakes, and forget that there is a higher power to which we are accountable.

 

This is where the second rule comes in. We need to trust God more than we do ourselves. If we do, Jesus assures us, we “will bear much fruit.” But if we neglect this, “we will be thrown out like a branch and wither.” The vine supplies nutrients to the branches and branches cannot sustain themselves alone. This is what Christians repeatedly prove in their daily lives, but specially in moments of trials and tribulations. It is faith that supports us and prevents us from collapsing. It is faith that lifts us up when we fall down and renews us when we are depleted. At the beginning of the pandemic, some people said they lost their faith in God because of the crisis. Christians responded by saying that their faith grew strong as they trusted the Lord to help them survive through the same crisis.

 

We pray that the pandemic stops, that the crisis ends, that the sufferings cease. We pray in patience. We pray for strength to do what we can to help ourselves and others. Most of all, we pray for deeper trust in the God who does not give up on us and who bestows on us the grace to surmount all our troubles. Amen.

pls share... thanks to the internet for the photo above!

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