Gospel Reading of the day

ALLELUIA

R: Alleluia, alleluia

Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord; whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.

R: Alleluia, alleluia

 

John 15:1-8

1 Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. 3 You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

SABBATH

EVERY BRANCH THAT DOES NOT BEAR FRUIT   More than two decades ago, a beautiful movie entitled Dead Poets Societycapitalized a whole lot on Henri David Thoreau’s extended essay “Walden Pond,” which reports his love affair with nature and his extended retreat to the countryside. A memorable and quotable line still rings clear in my ears: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front the essential facts of life… and to put to rout all that is not life.” All of us have things in our closet that we need to get rid of. All of us have bad habits to shed off and new habits to learn. Some of those items or habits drag or weigh us down, like smoking, drinking or the propensity to stock up on things that we really do not need. On the spiritual plane, all of us have what spiritual writers of old used to call the “predominant tendency” or the sin that we often fall into, repeatedly, predictably. My father, who was a farmer by interest and vocation, but an accountant by necessity, introduced me long ago to the idea of pruning. Back when coffee cultivation was still lucrative in my hometown, I learned early on that unless one knows how to prune the coffee trees, they could not be expected to bear much fruit. One needed to “take away every branch that does not bear fruit.” One needed to do away with what does not lead to life, to wholeness. If this is true of plant life and our earthly physical life, all the more so is this true with regard to our spiritual life. One curious thing in the world of nature is the fact that one sees no birds flying when it rains. Their wings get wet and soggy, and therefore heavy. They cannot afford to carry all that extra weight. They cannot soar when bogged down with all that weight. Pruning, giving up, cutting down, denying oneself… they all have to do with the same thing — putting to rout all that is not life and cutting away “every branch that does not bear fruit.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB   Reflection Question: What habits or things weigh me down?   Lord, help me to cut off the habits, things and relationships that bog me down in my journey to You. Amen.