Daily Gospel Reflection

Study Your Life

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly. Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we're exploring the genius of Jesus in the Gospels and looking for a word or a phrase or an idea each day in the daily gospel reading to anchor our date to that word, phrase, or idea. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of John chapter 15 verses one through eight. I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.

If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers. And the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. I always think that if a word is repeated over and over in one of these daily gospel readings, that it warrants special consideration. The word today, of course, is abide, and Jesus is talking about, do we abide in Him? That's one question. Do we abide in Jesus? It's a good question. It's a question worth asking. Another question is, if we don't abide in Jesus, who or what do we abide in? And also a good question and a question worthy of consideration. But things tend not to be all or nothing.

So do we abide partly in Jesus? For sure. Do we abide completely in Jesus? Sometimes, sometimes not. Do we abide partly in other things? Yes, probably. Do we abide completely in them? Probably not. And so the spiritual life, it's an exploration of levels and going to new depth. And it's easy to settle for the simple, "Oh, I abide in Jesus," or "I don't abide in Jesus." But we don't grow through that. We grow by saying, "Okay, when do I abide in Jesus? When don't I abide in Jesus? How much do I abide in Jesus? What is the fruit of my life? Is the fruit of my life at this time in my life more or less than other times in my life? And why is the fruit dried up in my life? And what is it that I'm doing that might have caused that? And what are the separations that I put between myself and Jesus? We've got to go deeper. We can't get stuck in, "Oh yes, I abide in Jesus," or, "No, I don't." Have an amazing day, and remember, be bold, be Catholic.