Abiding in Jesus!

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Acts 15:1-6; Jn 15:1-8

Today’s Gospel highlights our oneness with Jesus as something integral for fruitfulness. 

Jesus makes use of the metaphor of the vine and branches to indicate the relationship between himself, the Father, and his disciples. 

The Gospel text is dominated by three words: vinedresser, vine, and branches. Each of them inspires our reflection. 

Vinedresser: Jesus says that his Father is the vine grower who takes away every branch that does not bear fruit. However, chopping off the branches is not His only work. Instead, if He finds the branches very responsive, He prunes them so that they bear much fruit and thus thrive in their discipleship. God’s intervention is only to make sure that we bear more fruit. 

Vine: Jesus is the true vine, and we make our existence meaningful only by our union with him. If we want to bear fruit, it becomes necessary that we abide in Jesus, the faithful and life-giving vine. In this sense, ‘abiding’ in Jesus symbolizes obedient love to his commandments. We prosper only when we are with Jesus. 

Branches: The disciples of Jesus are the branches, and therefore, bearing fruit is not something optional but a sign of true discipleship. As branches, our duty is to be with him and bear fruit. We also need to respond to the Vine Grower’s (Father’s) involvement in shaping our lives in discipline. This is what is meant by faithful Christian life. 

Let us pray that as branches, we may generously respond to God’s love and initiatives. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar