Bearing Much Fruit

A reflection for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year B. The readings are: Acts 9:26-31, 
Psalm: 22; 1 John 3:18-24 and John 15:1-8.

There have been a few difficult times in my life, when I have had the Grace (yes, absolutely it’s because of Grace!) not to pray for the outcome that I want, but to pray for a good outcome. I didn’t even pray for God’s will, but that, whatever the resolution to the crisis, it is one that is good for all those affected by it. I suppose that what God thinks is good may be different from what I think is good, but at least I’m pretty sure that whatever God wants is good (whether I agree with it or not).

And so I am comforted to read today’s Gospel – to hear Jesus say that if we remain in him we will bear much fruit. That means that Jesus wants us to be fruitful. He wants the outcome of all things to be good.

That’s what being fruitful means: leading to good things. When we are fruitful, what we say and do always lead to good things. When we abide in Christ, it always leads to good things – it leads to good fruit.

So – that’s the first thing we need to remember today: Jesus wants us to bear good fruit.

And how do we do that? He tells us: “Abide in me.”

If we want to bear good fruit, we have to abide in Jesus.

I love that word, “abide”. It’s in today’s Gospel eight times and in the second reading twice. So it’s pretty important. Some translations say, “remain”; “remain in me”; but I think abide is a much better word. It means to live, to remain, to be in, to dwell in: All those are good: “Dwell in me; live in me; remain in me; live in me”… stay connected to me; plugged into me; “Abide in me” and you will bear much fruit. He doesn’t say, “believe in me”, “have faith in me”, “trust me…” No… “abide in me; remain in me.”

If we stay connected to Jesus, like the branches are connected to the tree, we will bear much fruit.

So… how do we stay connected to Jesus?

First, through prayer, through Scriptures – we get to know Jesus and seek to have a relationship with Jesus – that’s one sure way to stay connected to Jesus.

Second: Through the Sacraments. We believe and the Church teaches, that the Sacraments were instituted by Christ because Christ has promised that he will be made present in all the Sacraments. So, we plug in to Jesus through the Sacraments and we stay connected to Jesus through the Sacraments: especially the ones we can receive more than once, mainly, the Eucharist and Reconciliation.

And there’s only one way to connect through the Sacraments and that is to get plugged in to the Church.

So.. how do we stay connected with Jesus? We stay connected to His Church; His Body; the Church that He left us. If you want to bear good fruit, stay connected to Jesus, and if you want to stay connected to Jesus, stay connected to the Church.

Think about this. Jesus says “remain in me, as I remain in you.” We abide in Jesus because Jesus is already abiding in us. Jesus is not just with us; Jesus is WITHIN us! He is in us. He abides in us. Jesus, God’s very life, dwells in us through the Sacraments. What a better example of that than the Eucharist, where Jesus is consumed by us so he can literally, physically, really, dwell within us – and it’s not a symbol; it’s real! Jesus is really in us.

So… if you want to abide in Jesus, pay attention to how Jesus is already abiding in you.

I don’t think we can kill the life of God within us, but if we are not plugged in, it will be diminished; it will be dimmed and we will begin to die spiritually. We need to nurture the life of God within us – and we do that though prayer and Scripture and spiritual reading and acts of charity but also by being connected to the Church.

That’s what Saul does in today’s first reading from the Book of Acts. Saul is the guy who would become St. Paul. It’s the same guy. He has a powerful and dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, but he doesn’t go off and start his own church; he doesn’t go and do his own “Jesus and me” thing. He goes back to Jerusalem to get connected to the Church. The Church is a bit suspicious, because, after all, Saul was the main persecutor of Christians, so Saul has to connect with Barnabas first – what a joy to be that one that helps another get connected or re-connected with the Church! And then Saul is able to connect with the Church so he can abide in Jesus.

So… Jesus wants us to bear good fruit; We bear fruit by staying connected to Jesus; we stay connected to Jesus by staying connected to the Church. 

Lastly, we abide in Jesus, as we are told in the second reading from the first letter of John, by keeping his commandments. “Those who keep his commandments, remain in him.” That one is pretty simple. Do what Jesus said. If you don’t know what Jesus said or don’t know how to do what he said, stay connected to the Church.

And we know that we are connected with Jesus, because we will see the fruits. And the fruits are always something that’s good. When you see good in you and good growing in others, you will know that you are bearing good fruit. And, the  more we abide in Jesus, the more we are able to see and recognize the fruits.

Most of the time.

And this is hard, we know that we are bearing good fruit, when we are pruned. Jesus says that the vine grower takes the vines that are bearing much fruit and he prunes them so that they bear more fruit. So… if we are going through times of difficulty, trials, suffering… it could be that God is pruning you. Be grateful that he has recognized your good fruits and he wants you to bear even more fruit. So… in times of trial and difficulties, don’t get discouraged. Sometimes the pruning takes a long time, and it is always painful, but it is always good. These are times when we are reminded that we are indeed abiding in Jesus and he is preparing us to bear much more fruit.

Again, that’s what happens to Saul. He connects with the Church and right away he starts having difficulties. The Church supports him and sends him off home to Tarsus. We don’t know how long Saul is in Tarsus, but it was a few years. I’d like to think that was a time of pruning because God was preparing him to do good work. And we know that God produced a lot of good fruit through St. Paul.

Today, Jesus says, I am the vine and you are the branches, abide in me and you will bear much fruit. Jesus wants us to be fruitful. Let’s abide in him, remain in him, live in him, stay connected to him, as he abides in us, as he dwells in us.

And it will be good.