Baskets of Fruit

A few weekends ago, the Gospel at mass was John 15:1-8, a passage known as “the vine and the branches" and three days later, the daily gospel was this same passage.   Last week, I was reading a book when I came across a part that reflected on some of the ideas from this scripture passage.  Then, last Thursday I was at a banquet for Vida, a pregnancy resource center in Appleton, and Bishop Ricken gave a reflection on John 15.  John 15:5 says, “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.”  As this scripture passage kept popping up over the last few weeks, I realized that God was clearly reminding me that without Him, I can do nothing and will not bear any fruit.  In everything we do, we must remain in Him.

In the book I was reading, This Present Paradise: A Spiritual Journey with St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, by Claire Dwyer, she talked about how we have all been given a mission and wrote, “we have to believe that the measure of our call is undoubtedly higher than we are and then get out of the way enough for Christ to glorify the Father through our transparent souls” (Dwyer, 207).  If we try to do things on our own, we are not going to be able to do this.  If we let pride take over our lives, we will doubt the mission God has given us and we will feel as if we cannot do what He calls us to each day because we will be relying on our own abilities.  She continues on, “so yes, we must be humble and know that without Christ, we really cannot bear any lasting fruit- but with Him, there will absolutely be basketfuls left over” (Dwyer, 207).  For me, this is a work in progress and I recognize I have a long way to go.  Maybe that is the case for you too.  In the mission He gives us, not only for our whole lives, but in each day, we must get out of the way so that when we do what He asks of us, God will be glorified and we will bear good fruit.  To imagine basketfuls of fruit that would come from our reliance on Christ is a powerful image that can help us remain in Him.

In Bishop Ricken’s reflection at the banquet, He reminded us that the work that we do will not produce any good fruit unless we remain in Christ and His love.  He talked about how it is easy to let the lies from Satan convince us that we cannot do what Jesus asks of us, but we must not be discouraged.  We must let Jesus’ voice be louder so that we can continue doing whatever work that He asks of us.
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It’s easy to think that we are not capable and that we do not have what it takes to do what Jesus asks of us.  But if He asks us to do something, He never abandons us and leaves us to do it on our own.  We cannot do what He asks if we rely on ourselves.  But if we rely on Him, we can do whatever it is He is calling us to.  If you are worried about saying “yes” to anything in your life, big or small, just remember that without Him, we can do nothing.  But if we remain in Him, we will bear good fruit.  May we always remain in Jesus and produce basketfuls of fruit