5th Easter Sunday

John 15:1-8

He who abides in Christ bears much fruit

- What does it mean to remain in Christ?

- What does it mean to bear much fruit?

In the Gospel, Jesus uses the image of the vine to show that in order to bear fruit, a plant must be connected to a root that nourishes it. 

To abide in Christ is to be immersed in the nourishment He provides, which can become the source of our "fruit-bearing".

- Fruit - something that will last from my life; something that will withstand the test of death.

- Fruit - not just any fruit, produced in Jesus.

Looking at the allegories of the vine, we might think of baptism as the moment of implantation - of union with the vine, with Christ. But being grafted in is by no means the same as abiding. 

For abiding to be effective, there is a need for nourishment and care, expressed first of all in receiving nourishment - the Eucharist, but also in the care of rejecting unhealthy and undesirable elements - the sacrament of Penance.

Confirmation is still to come. It is also a special moment in the building of this relationship called perseverance.

But even that is not enough. Perseverance is more than a few 'point' events. Abiding is in a sense infinite. It is a dynamic process, a kind of ossification.

By way of introduction and explanation

 As usual, I have a problem with regularity. I seem to remember that this is a blog, and yet somehow I can't always find the self-discipline to sit down at the keyboard and write something new. 

To be honest, I suspect I won't have as much time to write as I did for a while after the accident, but you can try and do something about it.

I'm certainly not promising myself that I'll write every day. Firstly, I don't really have the time, and secondly - I realise that this blog has a mediocre reach, and I can't find the external motivation that comes from believing that I'm writing it for someone. So I write more for myself - to get my thoughts in order.

I have certainly decided to return to my notes on the Apophthegms - because reading them does not stop. From today, I will also try to present a new 'series', namely Reflections on the Word, that is, de facto - to sort out my sermon notes, the full form of which can be heard on Sundays in church or as part of a podcast. And that's about it. At least for now.