Sunday, April 28th, 2024
This week I felt pulled to pare down the readings to the second reading from the Letter of John and the Gospel. It is a beautiful representation of John living the Gospel by sharing what He received first hand from Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You are the Word made flesh, the living Word of God. May my mind be opened to what you want to reveal in Your Word to me today, may my heart be softened to the truth you wish to place upon it, and may my lips proclaim You to others through the inspiration of Your Word. Amen.
Reading 2
Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God
and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit he gave us.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
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.
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.
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.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
During Holy Week, Fr. Adam gave an analogy of sin that really resonated with me and Holy Spirit brought back as I reflected on these readings this week:
“The desires we have are placed there by God Who seeks to fulfill them. Sin is when we try to fulfill those desires with something far less thus preventing ourselves from fully receiving what God desired for us. It is like this: imagine desiring to visit and experience Chicago. You are on the highway headed to Chicago and see the sign, “Chicago 30 miles”. You pull your car over and stand by the sign believing you have arrived at the destination of your desire.”
We can apply this wisdom to the echoed Wisdom of these two readings. For God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Where in life have I sent my own vine seeking to fulfill a desire? Where have I lost confidence in God to fulfill a desire? What is the heart of that desire, is it in keeping with the heart of my Heavenly Father who desires good things for me? Am I ready to surrender my fulfillment for the unknown fulfillment God has in store? Talk to Jesus, talk to our Heavenly Father. Ask them how you can abide more deeply with them.
