Wednesday of the 5th Week of Easter
April 27, 2016 6:30am
Readings: Acts
15.1-6
John
15.1-8
In today’s gospel Jesus uses the
word “remain” eight times.
In John’s entire gospel, the word
is used forty times.
So, this idea of remaining in
Jesus, as branches remain in a vine, must be very important.
In the different letters and
books of the New Testament, we hear this idea expressed in several ways.
Paul says that we live in Christ
and that God dwells in us.
Peter says that we are made
partakers of the divine life.
John, in one of his letters, says
Christ is in us.
So, despite our failings, despite
our human imperfections, despite our empty feelings at times, despite the
eventual wearing down of our bodies – despite all of that, we are in Christ and
Christ is in us.
With the image of the vine and
branches, Jesus outrightly calls us to remain in him.
He wants us to consciously work
at remaining in him.
We do that through personal,
private prayer.
And we do that through the
Eucharist – the visible, sensible food that Jesus gives us so that he can
remain in us and we can remain in him.
The conclusion I see to this is
that we need to draw on this “remaining”
in Jesus and he in us as often as we can.
This will be for us a source of
strength for everyday life and also a source of hope for today and tomorrow and
destiny which is to “remain” with and
in God forever.
