I Am the True Vine

Acts 15:1-6, Jn 15:1-8. As a sign of submission to the law of God, every male child in all Jewish families is circumcised eight days after His birth. In today's first reading, Paul proposed his new idea that circumcision was no longer needed for anyone to be admitted into the new people of God. Jesus brought the Old Law to completion by His death and resurrection and people no longer need circumcision in order to be saved. Paul maintained an inner, spiritual circumcision, where it will become a matter of the heart, when love and loyalty bind people to God. In today's Gospel, Jesus uses the image of the vine branches to describe our relationship with God. In the Old Testament, the vine represented the people of Israel, planted from selected stock, cared for by the Lord, that it may produce the fruits of justice (Isaiah 5:1-7). Jesus is the "True Vine", we are the branches, so to be joined to Jesus is a spiritual circumcision uniting us with God. He suggests that in various ways God prunes our lives to make them even more fruitful. There are some things we may need to shed if we are to become all that God is calling us to be. Experiences of letting go, though painful at times, can help us to grow, spiritually. They lead us to a new relationship with God and with others. As Jesus says: "I am the Vine, and you are the branches", He expresses the indispensable relationship that must exist between us and our Creator to live a fruitful life. As branches of His vine He remains in us and we with Him. The Lord who makes His home in us will sustain us in times of trial and will lead us through painful experience of pruning into a new and more fruitful life. However, for that to happen we need to remain in Him as He remains in us; we need to keep in communion with Him through prayer, as He is in communion with us. May the Lord help us to produce fruits that gives joy to others and praise to God all the days of our life! Amen!! Good morning and have a terrific day!!!