Jesus calls Himself the True vine, and we are the branches. Without Him, we cannot do anything. By remaining in Him, He remains in us, an important theme in the readings. We are filled with His life, so that we can obey His commandment, which is ultimately about bearing fruit as we love others.
Indeed, in the Resurrection Life of Jesus, we are transformed as God prunes us, to take away what leads us away from Him, so we can draw closer to Him, like Saul. People were suspicious of him after his conversion, but Barnabas made it clear that God appeared to Saul. And Saul boldly proclaimed the Word revealed to Him by the Risen Lord.
By remaining in Jesus, Who gives us His life, we live as His disciples. As the second reading in 1 John elaborates, we are to believe in God and to act on that belief and love beyond words by showing it in tangible actions, which is pleasing to God because, simply put, is His command. We don't do this on our own, but we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in following this command that is the heart of our faith.
This day is significant in my faith life as I celebrate joyfully the anniversary of my baptism, when I encountered Christ in the waters, and was joined to Him and His Paschal Mystery. It was a great day for Father Pacocha to live out his priestly calling by baptizing me on his ordination anniversary.
I was indeed joined to the True Vine of Jesus so that I could be equipped to grow and bear fruit, in subsequent steps of my faith journey, like when I celebrated my First Holy Communion, which was 25 years ago this week. Continuing on, I keep marveling at how God is at work as I take my part in His Church and He works in me for bearing fruit.
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