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.
(John 15:5)
This was my mother’s favorite Bible passage; so I am thinking of her as I read it. She loved to garden and used to demand that my father stop when she saw wildflowers growing at the side of the road. She would uproot them with the little garden tool she kept in the trunk of the car. On arriving home, she would happily transplant them. I can see how she related to the vine and the branches, and, different as our personalities are, I, too, am moved by the metaphor.
Keep me attached to you, Lord Jesus. Prune me, but never let me be separated from the sap that gives life. Vine and branches, Mystical Body, remain in me. Grant that I may remain in you.
Without you, I can do nothing. I could not have risen this morning if you had not raised me. I could not be reading your words and writing my reactions to them if you did not give me sight and understanding. You guide my pen as you guide every step I take. I do not know what I will say until I write it. I do not know where I am going, exactly, but I know that you are the way and the truth and the life. How can I get lost when it is you who carry me?
If I were to become separated, I would be thrown into the fire, for I would be dead and useless. Only in you does my life have meaning. So, trusting in your mercy, I will hope only in you. Whatever fruit I bear through you will nourish whoever needs it. Does the branch know that the birds find a perch, shelter and food on it? I do not need to know what you are doing with me, only that I am in you and you in me.
Please help me today to be attached only to you and to accept everything you send without judging or complaining.