Bearing Fruit
In Sunday's Gospel Jesus uses a grape vine and its fruit to teach about his relationship with his Father and ours with him. The sap flows from the vine through the branches and produces grapes. God's very life which is Love flows through Christ and into us, his fruit. His command to us who follow him is to love one another and thereby produce more fruit. Ignatius reminds us that true love shows itself in deeds rather than words. Our goal is to love the other into the best version of themself. That's the vocation of a spouse, a parent, a relative, a neighbor, a true friend. It's usually not in the big ways but the small everyday ones: a smile and a greeting, an awareness of and focus on the other, an act of kindness, a loving and reassuring touch, an apology and forgiveness. That's how the Lord treats us; let us bear that same fruit.
Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.
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